William Henry Hunt, Portrait of a Restful Man in a Doorway - Antique Watercolour

This charming mid-19th-century watercolour by British artist William Henry Hunt (1790-1864) depicts an older gentleman resting in a cottage doorway.

The son of a tinplate maker, Hunt was hindered in helping his father’s business by a physical disability to his legs. The father agreed, therefore, for his son to pursue the artistic zeal he had always shown and acquired him an apprenticeship under watercolourist John Varley (1778-1842). During his time with Varley, the young man would make sketches of the surrounding landscapes, often with his friend and fellow pupil John Linnell (1792-1882). It was perhaps these younger years with Varley that infused Hunt with a love for nature. Varley would often say "go to nature for everything."

It was through Varley that Hunt was introduced to Doctor Thomas Munro (1759-1833). Monro was a patron to young watercolourists and took many notable aspiring artists under his wing, including J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) and Peter de Wint (1784-1849). He was in good company and, alongside the nourishing environment Munro offered him, he also attended lessons at Royal Academy Schools. He began exhibiting within its hallowed halls in 1807.

The productions of Hunt’s early years were primarily landscapes and architectural drawings. Indeed, by 1815 it seems he had established himself as an artist producing these types of works. Colours are vibrant in these early pieces which would become a staple of his oeuvre as his career progressed. The dining room at the Earl of Essex’s residence of Cassiobury House is drenched in glorious emerald wallpaper. Gold glints with unnerving realism from the luxurious furniture and decoration.

Indeed, the Earl of Essex would become an important early patron for Hunt’s art, as would the Duke of Devonshire. As Hunt’s career progressed and he became more renowned, they would also become figures of jealousy for others. Novelist William Makepeace Thackeray would comment that if he were the Duke of Devonshire, he would hang “a couple of Hunts in every room in all my houses”.

It was Hunt, along with other prominent artists such as J.M.W. Turner, who would elevate the status of watercolour as a medium. With John Varley’s celebration of nature instilled in his mind, he began producing still lifes focussing on the minutiae of the natural world around him. He was made a full member of the Society for Painters in Watercolour only two years after becoming an associate.

Still life, too, saw an elevation under his hand. Typically regarded as the lowest genre of art, it was the work of Hunt and others that would generate increasing respect both in the art world and among the public. He saw many buyers among the middle classes. With the breaking down of the old traditional hierarchies and the growing celebration of nature, his works seem to represent a convergence of some of the key art developments of the 19th century.

Whilst his still life paintings are his most enduring legacy, Hunt would also produce a number of successful genre scenes during his career. These images focus on subjects of a more rural, rustic life, often posed in cottages or farmhouses, as we here. Injected with his typical realism and strong colourisation, they are executed with varying levels of humour or gravitas. Each of his genre scenes found an audience and they were incredibly successful.

Upon Hunt’s death in 1864, the art critic John Ruskin would write to his daughter, Emma, that “no one living of your father’s friends will mourn him more deeply than I” and “it was my pride, that I could recognise his unrivalled powers in art.”

Though greatly celebrated, Hunt never seemed to rest on his laurels - famously stating that “it is never late to do better.” Perhaps it was this constant challenging of his own abilities that led to him becoming one of the foremost Victorian watercolourists.

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