William Morris Hunt 1824- 1879
William Morris Hunt Gallery
Hunt's father's family were among Vermont's founders and largest landowners; his mother's a family of wealth and prominence in Connecticut. Hunt attended Harvard but withdrew in his junior year.
Following the untimely death of his Congressman father from cholera, Hunt's mother Jane took him and his brothers to Switzerland, the South of France and to Rome, where Hunt studied with Couture in Paris and then came under the influence of Jean-François Millet, from whom he learned the principles of the Barbizon school. The Hunt family remained in Europe for a dozen years.
Afterwards, leaving Paris, he painted and established art schools at Newport, Rhode Island, where he had relatives, Brattleboro, Vermont, Faial Island in the Azores, where he had family connections and finally at Boston, where he painted, taught art and became a popular portrait painter.
The companionship of Millet had a lasting influence on Hunt's character and style, and his work grew in strength, in beauty and in seriousness. He was among the biggest proponents of the Barbizon school in America, and he more than any other turned the rising generation of American painters towards Paris.
On his return in 1855 he painted some of his most handsome canvases, all reminiscent of his life in France and of Millet's influence. Such are The Belated Kid, Girl at the Fountain, Hurdy-Gurdy Boy, and others ?C but the public called for portraits, and it became the fashion to sit for Hunt; among his best paintings of this genre are those of William M. Evarts, Mrs Charles Francis Adams, the Rev. James Freeman Clarke, William H. Gardner, Chief Justice Shaw and Judge Horace Gray.
Sadly, many of Hunt's paintings and sketches, together with five large Millets and other art treasures collected by him in Europe, were destroyed in the Great Boston Fire of 1872.
Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz English: "Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz (1807-1873)," oil on canvas, by the American artist William Morris Hunt. 21 7/8 in. x 18 in. Harvard University Portrait Collection, gift of Louis Agassiz Shaw II. Courtesy of the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Date ca. 1874-1875
cyf Painting ID:: 74753
William Morris Hunt Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz English: "Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz (1807-1873)," oil on canvas, by the American artist William Morris Hunt. 21 7/8 in. x 18 in. Harvard University Portrait Collection, gift of Louis Agassiz Shaw II. Courtesy of the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Date ca. 1874-1875
cyf
The Drummer Boy A photograph of the oil painting "The Drummer Boy," executed by artist William Morris Hunt of Boston, Massachusetts. Courtesy of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Date circa 1862
cyf Painting ID:: 75399
William Morris Hunt The Drummer Boy A photograph of the oil painting "The Drummer Boy," executed by artist William Morris Hunt of Boston, Massachusetts. Courtesy of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Date circa 1862
cyf
Portrait of Abraham Lincoln by the Boston artist William Morris Hunt, Portrait of Abraham Lincoln by the Boston artist William Morris Hunt, oil on panel. The full-length portrait was a study for a later painting of Lincoln by Hunt which was destroyed in the Boston fire of 1872. The portrait was painted soon after the assassination of Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth. The work portrays Lincoln as a sad-faced martyr to the Union cause, which was supported by William Morris Hunt and his brothers.
Date 1865(1865)
cjr Painting ID:: 80208
William Morris Hunt Portrait of Abraham Lincoln by the Boston artist William Morris Hunt, Portrait of Abraham Lincoln by the Boston artist William Morris Hunt, oil on panel. The full-length portrait was a study for a later painting of Lincoln by Hunt which was destroyed in the Boston fire of 1872. The portrait was painted soon after the assassination of Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth. The work portrays Lincoln as a sad-faced martyr to the Union cause, which was supported by William Morris Hunt and his brothers.
Date 1865(1865)
cjr
A landscape painting simply entitled Landscape A landscape painting simply entitled 'Landscape,' by Boston artist William Morris Hunt. Oil on pressboard, mounted on wood.
Date circa 1852 - 1853
cjr Painting ID:: 80209
William Morris Hunt A landscape painting simply entitled Landscape A landscape painting simply entitled 'Landscape,' by Boston artist William Morris Hunt. Oil on pressboard, mounted on wood.
Date circa 1852 - 1853
cjr
1824- 1879
William Morris Hunt Gallery
Hunt's father's family were among Vermont's founders and largest landowners; his mother's a family of wealth and prominence in Connecticut. Hunt attended Harvard but withdrew in his junior year.
Following the untimely death of his Congressman father from cholera, Hunt's mother Jane took him and his brothers to Switzerland, the South of France and to Rome, where Hunt studied with Couture in Paris and then came under the influence of Jean-François Millet, from whom he learned the principles of the Barbizon school. The Hunt family remained in Europe for a dozen years.
Afterwards, leaving Paris, he painted and established art schools at Newport, Rhode Island, where he had relatives, Brattleboro, Vermont, Faial Island in the Azores, where he had family connections and finally at Boston, where he painted, taught art and became a popular portrait painter.
The companionship of Millet had a lasting influence on Hunt's character and style, and his work grew in strength, in beauty and in seriousness. He was among the biggest proponents of the Barbizon school in America, and he more than any other turned the rising generation of American painters towards Paris.
On his return in 1855 he painted some of his most handsome canvases, all reminiscent of his life in France and of Millet's influence. Such are The Belated Kid, Girl at the Fountain, Hurdy-Gurdy Boy, and others ?C but the public called for portraits, and it became the fashion to sit for Hunt; among his best paintings of this genre are those of William M. Evarts, Mrs Charles Francis Adams, the Rev. James Freeman Clarke, William H. Gardner, Chief Justice Shaw and Judge Horace Gray.
Sadly, many of Hunt's paintings and sketches, together with five large Millets and other art treasures collected by him in Europe, were destroyed in the Great Boston Fire of 1872.