 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Victorian Art in Britain |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
William
Holman Hunt
1827 - 1910
|
Hunt, a founder
of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was born in London, the
son of a warehouse manager. Throughout his life he was a devout
Christian. He was also serious minded, & lacking in a
sense of humour. Hunt joined the Royal Academy Schools in
1844, where he met Millais & Rossetti, &, in fact
brought them together. In 1854 Hunt decided to visit the Holy
Land, to see for himself the genuine background for the religious
pictures he intended to paint. The first tangible results
of this journey were two paintings, “The Scapegoat,’ &
( ‘ The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple,’ which was exhibited
nationally to great acclaim in 1860, & sold for the sum
of 5,500 guineas, Hunt was advised on the price by Charles
Dickens.) This sale, which included the copyright established
the painter both financially, & artisticly. Hunt’s famous
picture ‘The Light of the World,’ was one of the greatest
Christian images of the 19th & early 20th
centuries. Hunt worked at night on this picture, in an unheated
shelter in a wood near Ewell in Surrey. Hunt did not have the natural talent of Millais, or the intellect & vision of Rossetti. He made up for this by sheer hard work & commitment. He could have been a very successful portrait painter had he chosen to be so. In later years, as his sight started to fail, perhaps, his colours became increasingly harsh. He was still capable of great things, however, as shown by his wonderful late picture ‘The Lady of Shallott, surely one of the most powerful Pre-Raphaelite images. In his last years Hunt became the patriach of Victorian painting. He was awarded the Order of Merit by King Edward VII in 1905. Hunt married firstly Fanny Waugh, & after her death in childbirth her younger sister Edith. He was also a far more attractive personality than is generally supposed, with a wide range of interests, which included horse racing & boxing. He died in 1910. |