The Gamekeeper

1824–25

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."

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

References

Title: The Gamekeeper
Artist: William Henry Hunt (British, London 1790–1864 London)
Date: 1824–25
Medium: Pen and brown ink and watercolor over pencil heightened with gum arabic
Dimensions: Sheet: 13 3/4 × 9 5/16 in. (34.9 × 23.6 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of Drawings and Prints Gifts, 2025
Object Number: 2025.246
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By William Henry Hunt

From the same time and place

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Study of a Young Model, William Henry Hunt British, Watercolor over graphite with reductive techniques — Study of a Young Model
William Henry Hunt
ca. 1830

The Woodcutter's Breakfast (The Faggot Gatherer's Meal), William Henry Hunt British, Watercolor and gouache (bodycolor) over graphite — The Woodcutter's Breakfast (The Faggot Gatherer's Meal)
William Henry Hunt
ca. 1832–34 (?)

An apple, grapes and a hazelnut on a mossy bank, William Henry Hunt British, Watercolor and graphite, heightened with white — An apple, grapes and a hazelnut on a mossy bank
William Henry Hunt
1830–64

Fishermen's cottages at Hastings, William Henry Hunt British, Watercolor — Fishermen's cottages at Hastings
William Henry Hunt
1815–25

Cottages in an extensive landscape, William Henry Hunt British, Reed pen, ink and watercolor over traces of graphite — Cottages in an extensive landscape
William Henry Hunt
late 1820s

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