The Gamekeeper
William Henry Hunt British
Not on view
In the eighteen-twenties, Hunt began to paint and exhibit watercolors of gamekeepers and other estate workers such as head-gardeners, often for landed patrons such as the sixth Duke of Devonshire and sixth Earl of Essex. While we do not know the identity of the present subject, the figure's size and air of authority communicate significant presence. One potential function of such portraits is suggested by the series made by the artist for the Duke of Devonshire which have remained at Chatsworth. Those portrayals of senior staff were commissioned to hang in the servant’s hall to demonstrate a bond of respect between the landowner and his employees. Hunt’s extraordinary ability to observe and paint small, telling details is demonstrated here in the stubble on the sitter’s chin, and the texture, fabric, trimming and wear of his clothing. The simple background, by contrast, lends gravitas and concentrates our attention. The critic John Ruskin was an ardent admirer of Hunt and described such portraits as "illustrative of rural life in its vivacity and purity, without the slightest…idealization."
