William Henry Hunt, Interior of Bushey Church, c. 1822

Interior of Bushey Church (Church of St. James), Hertfordshire, looking west

Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, No. 1992.96.3

Brown ink and watercolor

16 3/4 X 13 in., 42.5 x 33 cm

 

Provenance:

Sir Robert Witt, London;

(S) Sotheby's London, 14 July 1988, Lot 30, (P) £8,250, $13,933;

Dr. Ian Craft, London (sold Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox Ltd., London, 1992);

Purchased by NGA, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1992.

 

This is an example of another type of watercolor painted by Hunt while working at Bushey in the 1820s. He painted both interior and exterior views of Bushey Church [St. James's] and nearby Aldenham Church. There are significantly more Church views than watercolors of local laborers, although Hunt exhibited more of the types included in the Country People exhibit. This is probably due to the fact that his patron, Dr. Thomas Monro, kept most of the artist's output of Bushey views while Hunt was apparently allowed to keep his works painted at nearby Casiobury Park.

 

Done