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WILLIAM HENRY HUNT Art

British, 1790-1864

William Henry Hunt was a painter and watercolorist of fruit and flowers, landscapes and rustic genre. Hunt’s works influenced many Victorian artists. His parents decided on an artistic career for him, due to a deformity in his legs, which made it difficult for him to walk. He was apprenticed to John Varley in about 1804, and one of his fellow pupils was John Linnell. The two artists liked each other's work and went on sketching tours together, including one to Hastings in 1809. In 1807, Hunt began to exhibit oils at the RA and in 1808 entered RA schools. By 1815, he had set up on his own as a rustic and architectural painter. Hunt was elected to the ARWS in 1824 and the Old Watercolour Society in 1826. From about 1827, he began to paint fruit and flowers and candlelight scenes. Over the years his technique also changed. Using body-color, he developed an individual method of hatching and stippling over a white ground, similar to that of Myles Birket Foster.

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19th century watercolour of a Girl at her Dressing Table
19th century watercolour of a Girl at her Dressing Table

19th century watercolour of a Girl at her Dressing Table

By William Henry Hunt

Located in London, GB

Collections: Muir Hetherington; Sir John and Lady Witt, acquired 1974; By descent to 2015. Literature: Tom Jones (ed.), William Henry Hunt 1790-1864, exh. cat., 1981, no. 145 (Girl in a bedroom); John Witt, William Henry Hunt (1790-1864) Life and Work, London, 1982, no. 553, p. 194, colour pl. 16. Exhibited: Wolverhampton, Central Art Gallery, Preston, Harris Museum and Art Gallery and Hastings, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, William Henry Hunt 1790-1864, 1981, no. 145 as Girl in a bedroom (Lent by Sir John & Lady Witt) Framed dimensions: 20 x 20.75 inches This unusually charming and well-preserved watercolour was painted by William Henry Hunt in around 1833. Almost certainly depicting his young wife, Sarah, possibly in the interior of her family home at Bramley in Hampshire. This work shows Hunt’s remarkable virtuosity as a watercolourist, Hunt, for example, articulates the profile of his young wife, by leaving a reserve of white paper to suggest the light modelling her features. Throughout the 1830s Hunt made a sequence of richly painted interior views of both domestic and agricultural spaces which pay scrupulous attention to detail. Hunt was born in London, the son of a tin-plate worker and japanner. J. L. Roget recorded the observation of Hunt’s uncle: ‘nervy, little Billy Hunt… was always a poor cripple, and as he was fit for nothing, they made an artist of him.’ At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to the landscape painter John Varley for seven years, moving to live with Varley at 18 Broad Street, Golden Square, London. There he made close friends with both John Linnell and William Mulready. Hunt worked at the ‘Monro Academy’, at 8 Adelphi Terrace, London, the house of Dr Thomas Monro, an enthusiastic patron of landscape watercolourists. Through Monro, Hunt was introduced to the 5th Earl of Essex...

Category

19th Century Old Masters WILLIAM HENRY HUNT Art

Materials

Watercolor, Pencil

Bird's Nest, Victorian 19th Century Royal Academy Oil
Bird's Nest, Victorian 19th Century Royal Academy Oil

Bird's Nest, Victorian 19th Century Royal Academy Oil

By William Henry Hunt

Located in London, GB

William Henry Hunt 1790 - 1864 Bird's Nest Oil on canvas Image size: 11½ x 8⅜ inches William Henry Hunt was a painter and watercolourist of fruit and flowers, landscapes and rust...

Category

19th Century Victorian WILLIAM HENRY HUNT Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

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William Henry Hunt art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic William Henry Hunt art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by William Henry Hunt in paint, watercolor, canvas and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 19th century and is mostly associated with the Old Masters style. Not every interior allows for large William Henry Hunt art, so small editions measuring 9 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Charles Towne, George Goodwin Kilburne, and William Bromley. William Henry Hunt art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $606 and tops out at $24,776, while the average work can sell for $5,368.

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