A Graduate of Pomona
William Henry Hunt, Head of a Bearded Man, dated 1833
Hunt painted a number of watercolors showing nothing more than the head and upper body of men, usually with beards. While the execution of this work is highly skilled, especially in the depiction of light striking the sitter's forehead. But it is hard to imagine that there were lines of people waiting to purchase such paintings, as there were for his still life watercolors. In many ways, this painting is reminiscent of paintings of Apostles by earlier artists, such as Guido Reni, or even Rembrandt. SInce Hunt was an atheist, the contemplative pose would not have any religious meaning, however.
Works such as this were usually given titles such as A Study from Nature or simply Head of a Man.
For years I have been saying that Hunt's watercolors depicting the heads of men, most of which were apparently exhibited under the generic title, "Study from Nature," look very much like various portraits of male saints painted 200 years earlier by the great Italian painter, Guido Reni. Of course, it is often difficult to find very good, very obvious evidence to prove a point, which turns out to be true in this case. Although the similarities are so often evident, I had a bit of trouble finding a painting by Reni which showed a saint with a prominent, bald, forehead, along with downcast eyes, such as shown in this Hunt watercolor. But I did find an image of one, a St. Joseph, which was very similar but facing the wrong direction. So I cheated just a little and reversed the image of this Hunt so that it is facing to the left, like the St. Joseph by Guido. But at least it should be apparent how similar these two artists were in depicting older men with prominent foreheads. The main difference is that Hunt was an atheist, and undoubtedly would have opposed any interpretation of his works which would give them religious significance -- they were merely studies from nature, as one might see anywhere there are men with bald foreheads. The more puzzling question, however, is why Hunt even bothered to paint works such as this. As I have said elsewhere, it is hard to imagine that there was ever any market for such works. It would seem that the artist painted them to satisfy his own interests in replicating the appearances of nature in all their diversity. And on that level he certainly succeeded in producing secular images of men he encountered in the areas where he worked.
William Henry Hunt, Head of a Bearded Man, dated 1833
Hunt painted a number of watercolors showing nothing more than the head and upper body of men, usually with beards. While the execution of this work is highly skilled, especially in the depiction of light striking the sitter's forehead. But it is hard to imagine that there were lines of people waiting to purchase such paintings, as there were for his still life watercolors. In many ways, this painting is reminiscent of paintings of Apostles by earlier artists, such as Guido Reni, or even Rembrandt. SInce Hunt was an atheist, the contemplative pose would not have any religious meaning, however.
Works such as this were usually given titles such as A Study from Nature or simply Head of a Man.
For years I have been saying that Hunt's watercolors depicting the heads of men, most of which were apparently exhibited under the generic title, "Study from Nature," look very much like various portraits of male saints painted 200 years earlier by the great Italian painter, Guido Reni. Of course, it is often difficult to find very good, very obvious evidence to prove a point, which turns out to be true in this case. Although the similarities are so often evident, I had a bit of trouble finding a painting by Reni which showed a saint with a prominent, bald, forehead, along with downcast eyes, such as shown in this Hunt watercolor. But I did find an image of one, a St. Joseph, which was very similar but facing the wrong direction. So I cheated just a little and reversed the image of this Hunt so that it is facing to the left, like the St. Joseph by Guido. But at least it should be apparent how similar these two artists were in depicting older men with prominent foreheads. The main difference is that Hunt was an atheist, and undoubtedly would have opposed any interpretation of his works which would give them religious significance -- they were merely studies from nature, as one might see anywhere there are men with bald foreheads. The more puzzling question, however, is why Hunt even bothered to paint works such as this. As I have said elsewhere, it is hard to imagine that there was ever any market for such works. It would seem that the artist painted them to satisfy his own interests in replicating the appearances of nature in all their diversity. And on that level he certainly succeeded in producing secular images of men he encountered in the areas where he worked.