Edward Robert Hughes

Portrait of Mildred - British Victorian art Pre-Raphaelite seated young girl

1885

This captivating Victorian sanguine chalk portrait drawing of a young girl is by Pre-Raphaelite British artist Edward Robert Hughes. Signed and dated 1896, Hughes depicts in great detail her sweet young face and beautiful dress which appears to almost glow with light. A full length portrait and a really lovely drawing epitomising childhood innocence. The portrait depicts Elaine Blunt and has an inscription from Edward Hughes verso. Signed and dated lower right. Provenance. Colchester estate. Sotheby Lot 283 29th June 1976 Chapman Bros Condition. Sanguine chalk on paper, 28 inches by 20 inches unframed and in good condition. Housed in a glazed oak frame, 37 inches by 29 inches framed and in good condition. Edward Robert Hughes - Not to be confused with Edward Hughes (1832 - 1908), who specialised in portrait painting. Edward Robert Hughes RWS (1851 – 1914) was an English painter who worked prominently in watercolours, but also produced a number of significant oil paintings. He was influenced by his uncle and eminent artist, Arthur Hughes who was associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and worked closely with one of the Brotherhood's founders, William Holman Hunt. Having settled on his career choice, Edward Robert Hughes attended Heatherley's in London to prepare himself for the chance of auditioning for the Royal Academy School. Hughes became a student at the Royal Academy School in 1868. While Pre-Raphaelitism played an influential part in shaping Hughes work, Aestheticism is also seen in his paintings. E.R. Hughes is widely known for his works Midsummer Eve and Night With Her Train of Stars yet he built a career as a portrait painter to the upper classes. In addition to being an accomplished artist himself, E.R. Hughes was also a studio assistant to the elder artist and Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood founding member William Holman Hunt when Hunt suffered from glaucoma. Two of the paintings that Hughes worked on with Hunt were The Light of the World, which is displayed in St Paul's Cathedral, and The Lady of Shalott, which is exhibited at the Wadsworth Atheneum. On his own he experimented with ambitious techniques and was a perfectionist; he did numerous studies for many of his paintings, some of which turned out to be good enough for exhibition. Hughes held several important offices within the artistic community over his lifetime such as becoming a member of the Art Workers Guild in 1888, and was on their committee from 1895 to 1897. He was elected to Associate Membership of The Royal Water Colour Society (ARWS) on 18 February 1891, and he chose as his diploma work for election to full membership a mystical piece (Oh, What's That in the Hollow?) inspired by a verse by Christina Rossetti entitled Amor Mundi. His painting A Witch was given by the Royal Watercolour Society to King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra to mark the coronation in 1902. In later years Hughes served as the Vice-President of the RWS before leaving in 1903. Throughout his career, E.R. Hughes exhibited his works in several galleries around London: Dudley Gallery, Grosvenor Gallery, New Gallery, The Royal Academy, and toward the end of his career he exhibited with The Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours (RWS). His works can be seen in public collections including Cartwright Hall, Bradford, Cambridge & County Folk Museum, Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery, Bruce Castle...

This enigmatic 1920's Art Deco portrait is by noted Russian born British artist Jacob Kramer. Worked in chalk/pastel on paper it is a portrait of 'Grace'. There is strong emphasis on...

Alice Mary Chambers. English ( b.1855 - d.1920 ). Portrait Of Rebecca Porter Paddon 1850 – 1915 (nee Somerset). Red Chalk On Paper. Signed With Monogram Upper Left. Image size 17.9 inches x 14.8 inches ( 45.5cm x 37.5cm ). Frame size 25 inches x 21.9 inches ( 63.5cm x 55.5cm ). Available for sale; this original sanguine red chalk portrait drawing on paper is by the English female artist Alice Mary Chambers and dates from around 1880 to 1885. The drawing is presented and supplied in a glazed frame dating from the 1990s which uses a backboard and mount from the 1960s (which is shown in these photographs). This antique drawing is in very good condition. It is supplied ready to hang and display. The drawing is signed with the artist’s monogram upper left. Provenance: By descent through the sitter’s family. Alice Mary Chambers was a fascinating and significant figure in British artistic circles, and part of the higher echelons of the ‘aesthetic’ phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement of the late nineteenth century. A contemporary of Evelyn De Morgan, Kate Bounce and Marianne Stokes...

Signed and inscribed on a label on the verso: No. 1/ The Argument/ W. Cave Thomas/ 203 Camden Rd/ NW Provenance: Christie’s, London, 6 November 1995, lot 88. Private Collection, London. This powerful watercolor is a mature work by the little-known Victorian painter William Cave Thomas...