Benton Fine Art has dated this Victorian Military Oil Painting to the 1880s.
British, (1828-1904)
The Last Stand
Oil on canvas, signed
Image size: 17.25 inches x 23.25 inches
Size including frame: 25.75 inches x 31.75 inches
The Cavalier is posed on his horse half turned and looking back towards a group of Roundhead soldiers riding at speed behind him. As he readies his horse to charge, he holds a sword out in his right hand, with the reins over his left arm and his other hand on the pommel of a cavalry pistol. To the bottom left, his helmet lies discarded on the ground as he prepares himself for close quarter combat. In the bottom right, a canon lies half sunk at an angle in the muddy water. Meanwhile, behind the group of riders a fierce battle rages on.
Robert Alexander Hillingford was born in London on 28 January, 1828. In 1841, he moved to Germany to study at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. After 5 years of studying he travelled to Italy visiting Rome, Naples and Florence where he met and married his wife Ciara in 1858. During this time, he produced paintings of Italian life and one of these ‘The Last Evening of the Carnival’ was exhibited at St. Petersburg in 1859.
In 1864, he returned with his family to London and began to specialise in historical subjects often including battle scenes. He also produced a number of theatrical scenes and contemporary paintings of the Boer War. He made his debut at the Royal Academy in 1866 exhibiting there regularly throughout his career. He also exhibited at the British Institution, Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham, Glasgow Institute, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, Manchester City Art Gallery, Royal Institute of Oil Painters and Arthur Tooth Gallery.
From 1871 he lived at 30 Scarsdale Villas, in Kensington and by 1878 had moved to Cornwall Lodge in Rowan Road from where he worked and exhibited from until 1892. Hillingford was known for his close attention to accuracy in details of dress and had a collection of original uniforms. He was Vice President of the Kernoozers Club an organisation for collectors of objets d’art and militaria. He died in Fulham in 1904.
Examples of his paintings can be found at the Courtauld Institute, Grundy Art Gallery, Glasgow Art Gallery, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, Williamson Art.
Presentation: The painting is housed in a new, English made gilt frame which is in excellent condition.
Condition: As with all of our original antique oil paintings, this work is offered in ready to hang gallery condition, having been professionally cleaned, restored and revarnished.
© Benton Fine Art
Benton Fine Art has dated this Victorian Military Oil Painting to the 1880s.
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Historical Military Oil Painting of a Cavalier & Roundhead Soldiers by Robert Alexander Hillingford
