
William Henry Hunt OWS
- Years
- -
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Available items
- 4
Biography
William Hunt, the son of a London manufacturer, was born with a deformation of his legs which restricted his movement and seems to have had a form of dwarfism. According to his early biographer, F. G. Stephens, Hunt was: ‘was a little less than… five foot. He was broad as well as round shouldered and his head was large beyond proportion to the rest of his figure which the torso was that of a larger man. His large and long frock coats and loose trousers although favourable to him on other accounts, did not add to his outward graces.’ Stephens adds that Hunt’s personal disabilities: ‘frequently made him reserved and not very easily accessible to strangers.’ Hunt studied with John Varley, from 1804-11, at the Royal Academy Schools and attended Dr Thomas Monro’s ‘Academy’.
Hunt worked mainly in the studio and specialised in genre portraits, mainly of figures in domestic settings, and carefully drawn small-scale still lifes and pioneered new techniques of watercolour, using stipple techniques in subtle colour combinations and achieving a brightness of colour by overlaying washes over white gouache. He earned the soubriquet ‘Bird’s Nest Hunt’ and his work was highly prized. John Ruskin admired his work and took lessons from him in 1854 and 1861.
He exhibited widely during his lifetime and his work can be found in all major drawings collections.
Additional Information
Tate
Art UK
Courtauld
