George Sherwood Hunter, RBA, 
Scottish 1846-1919- 
The Wailing Wall, Jerusalem; 
oil on canvas,...

George Sherwood Hunter, RBA, 
Scottish 1846-1919- 

The Wailing Wall, Jerusalem; 

oil on canvas, signed 'G. Sherwood Hunter' (centre right), bears old indistinctly inscribed label with the artist's name attached to the upper stretcher bar, 80.5 x 104 cm. 

Provenance: 
George Sherwood Hunter Esq. (grandson of the artist);
His sale, Christie's, London, 13 May 1977, lot 167. 
with Charles Jerdein, 38 Albemarle Street, London, 1978. 
with MacConnal-Mason Galleries, London. 
The collection of Baron Stanley Kalms (1931-2025); 
Thence by descent. 

Exhibited: 
London, Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition, 1895, no.863. 

Literature: 
Apollo Magazine, London, January 1978 (illustrated). 

Note: 
Painted in 1894 and exhibited at London's Royal Academy in the following year, the present work is a particularly fine example of George Sherwood Hunter's oeuvre.

Sherwood Hunter was born in Aberdeen, but travelled widely in both England and on the Continent, and exhibited at both the Royal Academy and Royal Society of British Artists. In 1898 he moved from London to Newlyn, Cornwall, and inevitably became associated with Stanhope Forbes's circle. The Oracle wrote in 1880, of a contemporary exhibit: 'Sherwood Hunter is the only man...that one need stay to mention specially...you will see at a glance that he has struck out a distinct and original line of his own.'

The 'Wailing Wall' is another name for the Western Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem, a remnant of the Second Temple, where Jewish people pray and mourn the destruction of the Temples, referencing the sentiment of Psalm 79 which describes enemies defiling the holy sanctuary. The term 'Wailing Wall' was often used by Christians during Roman rule.