William Henry Hunt, A Long Song, exhibited 1840

A Long Song

Private Collection

Watercolor and bodycolor with scratching out

15 X 10 inches, 38.10 X 25.40 cm.

Signed, lower right, W. Hunt

 

Provenance:

With Matthews and Brooke, Bradford, England (art dealer);

(S) Phillips London, 23 March 1981, Lot 86 [as the Ballad Singer] (P) £2,500*, $4,033*;

(S) Sotheby's. 13 July, 1995, Lot 154 [as The Ballad Singer] (P) £3,800*, $6,081* by the present owner.

 

 

The original title of this watercolor by WIlliam Henry Hunt explains the subject of the picture. The seated boy is singing, and the length of his song is indicated by the length of the ballad he holds. While this painting is another example of one painted by the artist at his in-laws' farm in Bramley (specifically in the "stable" of the farm), it is even more interesting as an example of how the titles of Hunt's watercolors have changed, or even become corrupted, over time.

 

Some may assume that titles are written on the back of pictures or that those studying an artist can just look up an image and find the title. That may be true of the most famous of artists, whose works were famous in their own lifetimes and never forgotten thereafter (although such scenarios are also rare), but with artists such as Hunt, who were known and respected in their lifetimes but forgotten with changing tastes in later years, the most one can really hope for in terms of reference material are exhibition lists and catalogues and entries in auction catalogues and dealer records. Most of Hunt's original titles for works he exhibited at the Society of Painters in Water-Colours are recorded, but there have been errors in transcriptions, as well as the loss of several volumes of the society's original record books. Unlike some artists, whose own account/record books exist, the location and/or existence of any such records by Hunt are unknown. Many works were never exhibited, so the first notice of their existence usually appears in an entry of a Christie's catalogue, since Christie's was totally dominate in the auctioning of fine art in the 19th century. But, until the mid-20th century, auction catalogues contained NO illustrations, but only short, descriptive titles. Only if the seller knew the original title or a clever cataloguer happened to recognize an exhibited work and know it's title, would a catalogue entry correctly reflect the artist's own title. Auction catalogues had no indexes until more recent times and watercolors were sold in general sales, mixed in amongst oil paintings and drawings. On occasion the works would be sold and listed in auction catalogues in alphabetical order, but that was not generally the case. And even though there are some indexes of auctions from the period, none are even close to being complete lists of works sold by any artist.

 

The watercolor by Hunt in Aberdeen, which Hunt originally exhibited as A Boy with Ballads, was exhibited on several occasions after the artist's death at "The Ballad SInger." But by the 1970s, when this watercolor, originally called A Long Song popped up in a London Auction, it is doubtful that even the most knowledgeable watercolor experts would have any knowledge of the picture in Aberdeen. So, when the auction catalogue which included this work was prepared, someone undoubtedly saw a title used in the early 20th century exhibition which included the Aberdeen picture, by then known at The Ballad Singer, and assumed that that painting was identical to this one. By making that erroneous assumption, the entire history of the Aberdeen picture, including the date of original exhibition (which was close in time to the date of creation by Hunt), applied to this, a totally different painting. And that is how those who care about such matters as date of execution, history of ownership, etc., end up with a total jumble of correct and incorrect information with which to work.

 

With Hunt's figure paintings, there is at least a chance that the original titles can be matched with a particular work that re-emerges in the art market. But, more often than not, cataloguers for auction houses do not have the time or resources to make any significant investigation into the correct title. Instead, they make one up, based on visual evidence. An example, if we use this painting, could be a title such as "Farm Boy and Milk Maid in a Barn." If the cataloguer is somewhat diligent, they might look at the list of Hunt's exhibited watercolors, either in Sir John WItt's monograph on the artist or a volume which reproduces the water color society lists up to 1855, with certain years missing. But Hunt's original titles are often very vague or, just the opposite, very clever due to his love of word plays. So, when a Hunt watercolor showing John Swain yawning while reading a book that was open on a table in front of him, the catalogue for a major London auction house concluded that the watercolor was the same as the one Hunt exhibited in 1837 with the title, A Student. In fact, the watercolor was exhibited in 1838 with the title, The Narcotic, as could only be known with certainty if one had read a review of that exhibition in a London periodical which happened to describe, in some detail, the painting with that title.

 

And if it sounds difficult to identify which Hunt figure painting went with a certain title, just imagine sorting through hundreds of Still Life with Grapes, Still Life with Apples, or even just "STILL LIFE," when 19th century auction catalogues rarely even provided dimensions and when the artist painted the vast majority of his still lifes during the 20 year period when he never dated his works. Uuuughhhhhhhhh. The best chance of identifying when a particular still life was sold is to match the seller listed in Christie's auction records, with an earlier buyer of the same name. But most paintings, even back then, were bought by "the trade," art dealers buying for re-sale, and two dealers bought most of Hunt's still life watercolors -- Agnew and Vokins. Agnew's account books still survive, but the records of J.W. Vokins, the single largest dealer in Hunt still lifes, are nowhere to be found.....yet, I hope!

 

When this work was sold on 23 March 1981, it set a new record for the highest price paid at auction for a work by Hunt. That record lasted a little less than 3 years, until it was shattered by the sale of New Red Shoes for £5,500 on March 15, 1984. That price record lasted even fewer years, since the record price was reclaimed on March 18, 1986, when Too Hot sold for £8,500. Too Hot had held the record for the most expensive work by Hunt for over 100 years, from its sale in 1875 for £787 until March 13, 1980, when an early view of Bushey by Hunt sold for £900. But that record was extremely short lived, since Hunt's Boy Hanging Dead Game from 1827 sold for £1,600 only 5 days later, on March 18, 1980. No matter how one looks at these records, however, it is clear that Too Hot set the record price the most times, to date -- 3 total - March 28, 1868 for 550 gns. being the first -- and has a commanding lead in the total number of years it could claim to be the most expensive Hunt ever publicly sold -- about 113 years out of the 180 years of its existence (1832-2012). It is also apparent that mid-March is the charmed time of the year for the realization of high prices at auction for the works of William Henry Hunt.

Done