Click image to view full screen
Mary Walker Waugh
✓ Authenticity guarantee · ✓ Specialist condition report · ✓ Insured worldwide shipping · ✓ Private-room viewing
William Holman Hunt painted this portrait of Mary Walker Waugh (1805–1886)—his mother-in-law—during a time of personal tragedy. Waugh’s daughter Fanny Waugh Hunt (1832–1866), the wife of the artist, had recently died following childbirth. References to loss of life infiltrate the composition: the sitter wears black mourning attire, and behind her is a screen decorated with red poppies, a traditional symbol of unconsciousness and lifelessness because of its pharmaceutical use as a source for opiates. In Victorian society, the red poppy also signified consolation.
| Artist / Maker | William Holman Hunt |
|---|---|
| Date | 1868 |
| Culture / Origin | England, 19th century |
| Medium | oil on fabric |
| Dimensions | Framed: 115.5 x 95.5 x 6 cm (45 1/2 x 37 5/8 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 86.2 x 66.1 cm (33 15/16 x 26 in.) |
| Department | Modern European Painting and Sculpture |
| Type | Painting |
About the Artist
Holman Hunt exhibited an early aptitude for art, which his father, a warehouse manager, initially opposed but later tolerated. Between 1839 and 1843 he practiced drawing and studied with the portrait painter Henry Rogers while sustaining himself as an office clerk. Hunt met John Everett Millais (1829-1896) the same year that he entered the Royal Academy Schools, 1844. A decisive conversion in his attitude toward art came with the reading of John Ruskin's Modern Painters in 1847, immediately after which… Full biography →
Provenance & Source
Image & data: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 / Public Domain.
Condition
A detailed condition report and high-resolution photography are available from our specialists in advance of the sale.
Shipping & Collection
Fine-art shipping with climate control and full insurance to over 120 countries; collection by appointment.
Buying at Matchless Pieces
Register, verify your identity, and bid online or in a private room. Buyer’s premium and taxes are shown before you confirm.
