The Rake's Progress (ballet) The Rake's Progress (ballet) The Rake's Progress is a short 1935 ballet based on the drawings of William Hogarth, with music by Gavin Gordon (1901-1970), choreography by Ninette de Valois, and set design by Rex Whistler. Gavin Gordon had written some earlier ballets that were not successful. By contrast, "The Rake's Progress" was an instant hit and has remained in the repertoires of a number of ballet companies. It is the only work of Gavin Gordon's that is remembered today. Gordon based his scenario for the ballet on Hogarth's series of paintings called "A Rake's Progress". These paintings influenced him
Paris in the 18th century a new generation of artists showed their works; François Gérard; Anne-Louis Girodet, a pupil of David, famous for his romantic paintings, particularly a 1797 painting of the prominent actress and courtesan Mademoiselle Lange as Venus; Carle Vernet, the son and father of famous painters; The portrait painter Jean-Baptiste Isabey, who painted all the rulers of France from Marie-Antoinette through Napoleon III; the genre painter Louis-Léopold Boilly; Antoine-Jean Gros, a young history and landscape painter, who soon achieved fame and a government position in 1796 with a heroic portrait of Napoleon at the battle of Arcole; the romantic landscapes of Hubert