William Henry Hunt (1790-1864) was one of the key figures in British watercolour painting in the first half of the nineteenth century. Born in London and apprenticed at the age of fourteen to the watercolourist John Varley, he entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1808, becoming a regular exhibitor at the Society of Painters in Water-Colour from 1814. His career was furthered by the patronage of the Duke of Devonshire and the Earl of Essex, both of whom offered him important opportunities to work on their estates. His work focused on the rural and the natural worlds, ranging from genre scenes to single-figure studies to the intricate still-lifes for which he is now best known. John Ruskin was one of his most influential admirers, and his innovative technique inspired younger artists such as the Pre-Raphaelites.

The present work relates to two watercolours in The Courtauld’s collection, The Gardener (D.1967.WS.55) and The Head Gardener (D.2011.XX.2), as well as to a lost oil painting, and presumably depicts a gardener on the estate of the Earl of Essex at Cassiobury Park. Originally thought to be a watercolour, it is in fact a colour aquatint and, as such, testifies to the popularity of Hunt’s composition, as it is unlikely that such an elaborate reproductive print would have been undertaken otherwise.

Chiswick Auctions, London, 5 December 2013 (as a watercolour of an unknown man by an unknown artist); Karen Taylor Fine Art; where acquired by the Courtauld Institute of Art for the Samuel Courtauld Trust, 2017