A Graduate of Pomona
William Henry Hunt, An Orange Reflected on a Pewter Pitcher (c. 1850)
Although William Henry Hunt's style of painting in watercolor is very distinctive, especially by the mid 1820s, there seem to be nearly as many images on the web of works said to be by Hunt but which clearly are not his as there are images of authentic works by the artist. One hint in considering whether a painting is by Hunt is very simple - if it is an oil painting, the chances are overwhelming -- greater than 99.99% -- that William Henry Hunt did not paint it!
It is much less common, however, to find watercolors which seem stylistically to be Hunt's work but are said to be by another artist. This is one such example of a watercolor which is unquestionably by Hunt but which is instead currently catalogued by its owner (The City Art Gallery, Manchester, England) as "attributed to "William Henry Hunt." In art parlance, "attributed to" usually means that the work is close in style to an artist but not really by him. The Manchester museum has obviously followed the lead of the late Sir John Witt, who, in his 1982 monograph on Hunt's work, failed to include only this one of the several Hunt-like watercolors in the Manchester collection in his list of authentic works by the artist.
The quality of execution, sophistication in the depiction of light and reflected color, and the very subject matter of this small painting all point to Hunt as the painter. While Hunt's still lifes of fruit, birds' nests and flowers, and even dead animals against banks of moss covered dirt can, without too great a stretch of the imagination, be accepted as images which could be viewed in the real world (as if someone's basket of fruit lost a few pieces on its journey home from market or a naughty boy was startled and dropped his loot while robbing birds' nests from trees), one rarely finds pewter pitchers on their side in just the right position to reflect the image of an orange which, in the 1850s, just happened to end up in the same patch of English soil. Hunt apparently wasn't concerned so much with depicting raw reality as claimed by the great critic, John Ruskin, a champion of the artist. Instead, he was primarily interested in simulating in watercolor the appearance of textures and other visual experiences, such as the shine of polished metal and how textured surfaces, such as the peel of an orange, are reflected from such slick surfaces. Few watercolor artists before William Henry Hunt even attempted to paint still lifes with forms defined by both light and color (the most ambitious early attempts coming from the brush of Peter De Wint). Subtleties of texture and light such as those appearing in this watercolor were almost inconceivable in the work of any artist working before Hunt and rarely achieved by other artists, even after Hunt showed the way.
If stylistic evidence weren't enough, the fact that this watercolor, with it's distinctive subject (Hunt very rarely painted oranges at all, for some reason), was sold at public auction during Hunt's own lifetime, almost ensures that it is, in fact, by Hunt. The artist followed how well his paintings fared at auction, if only to know how well the market could bear higher prices for his more recent creations!
William Henry Hunt, An Orange Reflected on a Pewter Pitcher (c. 1850)
Although William Henry Hunt's style of painting in watercolor is very distinctive, especially by the mid 1820s, there seem to be nearly as many images on the web of works said to be by Hunt but which clearly are not his as there are images of authentic works by the artist. One hint in considering whether a painting is by Hunt is very simple - if it is an oil painting, the chances are overwhelming -- greater than 99.99% -- that William Henry Hunt did not paint it!
It is much less common, however, to find watercolors which seem stylistically to be Hunt's work but are said to be by another artist. This is one such example of a watercolor which is unquestionably by Hunt but which is instead currently catalogued by its owner (The City Art Gallery, Manchester, England) as "attributed to "William Henry Hunt." In art parlance, "attributed to" usually means that the work is close in style to an artist but not really by him. The Manchester museum has obviously followed the lead of the late Sir John Witt, who, in his 1982 monograph on Hunt's work, failed to include only this one of the several Hunt-like watercolors in the Manchester collection in his list of authentic works by the artist.
The quality of execution, sophistication in the depiction of light and reflected color, and the very subject matter of this small painting all point to Hunt as the painter. While Hunt's still lifes of fruit, birds' nests and flowers, and even dead animals against banks of moss covered dirt can, without too great a stretch of the imagination, be accepted as images which could be viewed in the real world (as if someone's basket of fruit lost a few pieces on its journey home from market or a naughty boy was startled and dropped his loot while robbing birds' nests from trees), one rarely finds pewter pitchers on their side in just the right position to reflect the image of an orange which, in the 1850s, just happened to end up in the same patch of English soil. Hunt apparently wasn't concerned so much with depicting raw reality as claimed by the great critic, John Ruskin, a champion of the artist. Instead, he was primarily interested in simulating in watercolor the appearance of textures and other visual experiences, such as the shine of polished metal and how textured surfaces, such as the peel of an orange, are reflected from such slick surfaces. Few watercolor artists before William Henry Hunt even attempted to paint still lifes with forms defined by both light and color (the most ambitious early attempts coming from the brush of Peter De Wint). Subtleties of texture and light such as those appearing in this watercolor were almost inconceivable in the work of any artist working before Hunt and rarely achieved by other artists, even after Hunt showed the way.
If stylistic evidence weren't enough, the fact that this watercolor, with it's distinctive subject (Hunt very rarely painted oranges at all, for some reason), was sold at public auction during Hunt's own lifetime, almost ensures that it is, in fact, by Hunt. The artist followed how well his paintings fared at auction, if only to know how well the market could bear higher prices for his more recent creations!