A Graduate of Pomona
Fig 10a. William Henry Hunt, The Kitchen, Chatsworth, c. 1823
The Kitchen, Chatsworth
Chatsworth House, Collection of the Duke of Devonshire
Watercolor
Signed, lower left, W. HUNT
This is the type of interior view that Hunt might have painted with the use of a camera obscura. Although it was done close in time to Hunt's view of the kitchen at Cassiobury Park, in comparison it is lacking all spontaneity and, if one didn't know better, would be thought the work of a different artist.
While there is no question that this is an authentic and perfectly preserved work by William Henry Hunt, it is remarkably dry and lifeless for one of his watercolors. Perhaps this can be accounted for by the fact that the kitchen depicted was newly built when painted by Hunt. The new, smooth and flawless surfaces may have held little appeal as subjects for an artist who delighted in showing the irregularities and untidiness of nature.
Fig 10a. William Henry Hunt, The Kitchen, Chatsworth, c. 1823
The Kitchen, Chatsworth
Chatsworth House, Collection of the Duke of Devonshire
Watercolor
Signed, lower left, W. HUNT
This is the type of interior view that Hunt might have painted with the use of a camera obscura. Although it was done close in time to Hunt's view of the kitchen at Cassiobury Park, in comparison it is lacking all spontaneity and, if one didn't know better, would be thought the work of a different artist.
While there is no question that this is an authentic and perfectly preserved work by William Henry Hunt, it is remarkably dry and lifeless for one of his watercolors. Perhaps this can be accounted for by the fact that the kitchen depicted was newly built when painted by Hunt. The new, smooth and flawless surfaces may have held little appeal as subjects for an artist who delighted in showing the irregularities and untidiness of nature.