A Graduate of Pomona
William Henry Hunt, Diffidence, Exhibited 1854
Diffidence
Private collection
Watercolor, bodycolor, and gum arabic with scratching out
11 X 8 in., 27.94 X 20.32 cm. Oval
Signed, l.r., W. Hunt
Provenance:
With Chris Beetles Limited, London, 1986;
(S) Sotheby's Billingshurst, 26 July 1988, Lot 257 [as Dissidents (sic)] (P) £3,300*, $5,653 by the present owner.
Hunt exhibited this watercolor at the 1855 Universal Exhibition in Paris, where the title was translated into French as Timidite. Hunt might have been better advised to have used Timidity as his title, since the last time this painting appeared at auction his own title was rather misunderstood - the title in the auction catalogue was Dissidents, an almost opposite meaning.
There are two versions of this watercolor, and both are variations of Hunt's much more famous picture, The Shy Sitter. All these watercolors show the same girl, in the same clothes, showing the same shy nature of the sitter. But the image shown here, and in the replica, must have been more popular in Hunt's lifetime. Not only did the artist choose Diffidence for submission to a major international exhibition, where his work was seen for the first time in France, but Diffidence was also reproduced in one of the first chromolithographs (mass produced colored prints) ever made.
Hunt rarely painted oval format figure paintings, probably due to the perfect balance needed in a figure composition to prevent the impression that the oval is about to tilt over. Hunt had largely given up painting figures at this point in his career, not from lack of interest but due to the huge demand for his still life watercolors. He might have painted this watercolor for no other reason than to have a recent example of this aspect of his work represented in Paris.. The other watercolors exhibited, The Ballad Seller in Aberdeen and the original, Sheepshanks versions of the Attack and the Defeat, had been painted many years earlier. The selections he made for Paris worked out well for him, however, since Hunt won a medal at the exhibition.
William Henry Hunt, Diffidence, Exhibited 1854
Diffidence
Private collection
Watercolor, bodycolor, and gum arabic with scratching out
11 X 8 in., 27.94 X 20.32 cm. Oval
Signed, l.r., W. Hunt
Provenance:
With Chris Beetles Limited, London, 1986;
(S) Sotheby's Billingshurst, 26 July 1988, Lot 257 [as Dissidents (sic)] (P) £3,300*, $5,653 by the present owner.
Hunt exhibited this watercolor at the 1855 Universal Exhibition in Paris, where the title was translated into French as Timidite. Hunt might have been better advised to have used Timidity as his title, since the last time this painting appeared at auction his own title was rather misunderstood - the title in the auction catalogue was Dissidents, an almost opposite meaning.
There are two versions of this watercolor, and both are variations of Hunt's much more famous picture, The Shy Sitter. All these watercolors show the same girl, in the same clothes, showing the same shy nature of the sitter. But the image shown here, and in the replica, must have been more popular in Hunt's lifetime. Not only did the artist choose Diffidence for submission to a major international exhibition, where his work was seen for the first time in France, but Diffidence was also reproduced in one of the first chromolithographs (mass produced colored prints) ever made.
Hunt rarely painted oval format figure paintings, probably due to the perfect balance needed in a figure composition to prevent the impression that the oval is about to tilt over. Hunt had largely given up painting figures at this point in his career, not from lack of interest but due to the huge demand for his still life watercolors. He might have painted this watercolor for no other reason than to have a recent example of this aspect of his work represented in Paris.. The other watercolors exhibited, The Ballad Seller in Aberdeen and the original, Sheepshanks versions of the Attack and the Defeat, had been painted many years earlier. The selections he made for Paris worked out well for him, however, since Hunt won a medal at the exhibition.