William Holman Hunt, OM RWS, 
British 1827-1910- 
A portrait of the artist's son, Hilary...

William Holman Hunt, OM RWS, 
British 1827-1910- 

A portrait of the artist's son, Hilary Lushington Holman Hunt, in profile; 

coloured chalks on buff paper, signed with monogram and dated '18 Whh 97' (lower left), 53 x 37.6 cm. 

Provenance: 
(Probably) sold by the trustees of Hilary Holman Hunt by Charles Hawkins & Sons at The Rookery, Rockland All Saints, Norfolk, 5 June 1951, lot 190 (part); 
where purchased by Leger Galleries, London. 
Anon. sale, Christie's, London, 31 October 1978, lot 47. 
where purchased by Julian Hartnoll, London. 
Anon. sale, Sotheby's, Belgravia, 11 December 1979, lot 15a. 
Private Collection. 
with Southgate Gallery, Shifnal (gallery open 1979-1985) [no.9014]. 
Anon. sale, Christie's, London, 11 December 2018, lot 135 (part); 
where purchased by the present owner. 

Exhibited: 
Shifnal, 1980. 

Literature: 
J. Bronkhurst, 'William Holman Hunt. A Catalogue Raisonné', 2006, p.209, no.D426 (illustrated). 
O.J.W. von Schleinitz, 'William Holman Hunt (Künstler-Monographien vol. LXXXVIII)', Bielefeld and Leipzig, 1907, p.129, pl.125. 
W. Holman Hunt, 'Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood', 2nd ed., London, 1913, vol. II, p.311 (illustrated). 

Note: 
The sitter, Hilary, was the artist's son by his second wife, Edith (1846-1931), and served as the model for a number of Holman Hunt's paintings, including 'Master Hilary - The Tracer' now in a private collection, and as the Christ Child in 'Triumph of the Innocents', in the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool [WAG 2115]. 

The present work is a striking example of the artist's sensitive, softly-shaded chalk portraits, much like Holman Hunt's portrait of Hilary's mother, Edith, in the collection of the Tate Galleries [T12881]. It also recalls his slightly smaller portrait of Annie Miller, also in profile, which sold at Sotheby's, London, on 5 July 2023, as lot 61 for £76,200. The sitter is shown here at the age of seventeen or eighteen and his features very much reveal his close resemblance to his half-brother Cyril.