Fig. D William Henry Hunt, The Blessing, Exhibited in 1841

The Blessing

Port Sunlight (Liverpool), England, The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Inv. No. WHL265

Watercolor, bodycolor, and gum arabic with scratching out

11 X 7 1/2 IN., 28 X 19 cm.

Signed

 

Provenance:

(S) 1841, SPWC, No. 99 (P) J. Hewett, Leamington;

T. Humphrey Roberts by 1901;

James Orrock

 

Exhibited:

Spring 1841, Society of Painters in Water-colours, Mo. 99, Asking a Blessing;

1879-80, London, Fine Art Society, Ruskin's Exhibit of Prout and Hunt, No. xxxxx

1887, Manchester, England, Royal Jubilee Exhibition, No. 1730, Lent by James Orrock;

1891, London, The Royal Academy, No. 113

 

This watercolor has also been known under the title, A Mid-day Meal.

 

John Ruskin showered great praise on this watercolor when it was included in the 1879-80 Exhibition of works by William Henry Hunt and Samuel Prout that Ruskin himself had organized. Although the great critic included it among the very small group of Hunt's works which he considered to be of greatest merit, along with The Eavesdropper [exhibited as Mr. Quilter's Stable Boy] and the first version of Grandfather's Boots, it might be a bit hard for most viewers to see why this portrait of an elderly man garnered such praise. Granted, it is a very fine work by the artist and one that is somewhat rare in that it is a depiction of the act of prayer painted without any sentimentality, unlike so many other Hunt watercolors with prayer as a subject. Although there are other, similar works by the artist which depict elderly men seated in a similar fashion and of similar quality, within the genre, this watercolor is as fine as any Hunt ever painted.

Done