Viewing Grayson Perry’s monumental tapestries at Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery

William Hogarth’s series of eight satirical paintings, A Rake’s Progress, produced between 1732 and 1734 tell the story of the heir of a rich merchant, Tom Rakewell, who wastes all his money on gambling, prostitutes and loose living in London and winds up in Fleet Prison, and eventually, an asylum. The paintings were purchased by Sir John Soane’s wife originally for display at Pitzhanger, but they were moved to Lincoln’s Inn Fields when the family relocated there.

More than two centuries on, six large-scale tapestries by Grayson Perry inspired by A Rake’s Progress, will hang at Pitzhanger, bringing history full circle. The Vanity of Small Differences offers offer a contemporary take on the Hogarth riches to rags tale, depicting a fable of class, decorum and taste, via protagonist Tim Rakewell, with characters and objects drawn from Perry’s experiences while filming his TV series All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry in various locations across the UK.