A Graduate of Pomona
William Henry Hunt, Study for The Irish Orange Girl (c. 1835)
Most artists who painted figure subjects have typically made sketches of their intended subjects prior to beginning their final work. This practice was largely abandoned after the decline of art schools, academies and the rise of alla prima painting late in the 19th century. As is true with so many of William Henry Hunt's working methods, this English artist usually anticipated later "innovations" by decades. Hunt almost never made studies, but painted directly from what he saw in the real world. WHen one encounters a sketch by Hunt that is made in preparation for his painting of a later, much more finished, figurative watercolor, the sketch is almost always of a flighty animal, such as a dog, or of an aristocrat who has no time or no desire to hold a pose while an artist paints his image. There are many sketches, usually done in ink with a pen, which Hunt apparently made for his own amusement, much as those of us without artistic talent will doodle when bored. But this is the only study which shows the complete preliminary composition for what Hunt later painted in a finished watercolor. Perhaps this girl's family commissioned a picture of her from Hunt but the girl was not available to sit before the artist for days while Hunt painted. This study is in the collection of the British Museum.
William Henry Hunt, Study for The Irish Orange Girl (c. 1835)
Most artists who painted figure subjects have typically made sketches of their intended subjects prior to beginning their final work. This practice was largely abandoned after the decline of art schools, academies and the rise of alla prima painting late in the 19th century. As is true with so many of William Henry Hunt's working methods, this English artist usually anticipated later "innovations" by decades. Hunt almost never made studies, but painted directly from what he saw in the real world. WHen one encounters a sketch by Hunt that is made in preparation for his painting of a later, much more finished, figurative watercolor, the sketch is almost always of a flighty animal, such as a dog, or of an aristocrat who has no time or no desire to hold a pose while an artist paints his image. There are many sketches, usually done in ink with a pen, which Hunt apparently made for his own amusement, much as those of us without artistic talent will doodle when bored. But this is the only study which shows the complete preliminary composition for what Hunt later painted in a finished watercolor. Perhaps this girl's family commissioned a picture of her from Hunt but the girl was not available to sit before the artist for days while Hunt painted. This study is in the collection of the British Museum.