William Holman Hunt

I have been working my way through The Two Paths by John Ruskin.  Ruskin speaks of William Holman Hunt being the greatest colorist.  I recently posted about a Hunt work being sold by the Delaware Art Museum and the scandal that caused.

William Holman Hunt, Isabella and the Pot of Basil, private collection

You can see a collection of William Holman Hunt's works in the ARC Museum here.  I found his use of soft color in his portrait of Miss Gladys M. interesting:

Miss Gladys M., William Holman Hunt, Museo de Arte (Ponce, Puerto Rico)

The pastel colors are soft and appealing, and remind me of something that belongs on a nursery wall.  It speaks of the gentle embrace of a mother.  This painting however is not one of my favorites, as I think the color is a bit too sweet and I think his edges are too universally sharp and that distracts me from the appreciation of his use of color.  I will address his use of edges in an upcoming post.

I do like Hunt's use of color better in Isabella and the Pot of Basil above.  The richness of the blues, golds, and rusts works very well with the subject matter.  That may just be personal preference though, I happen to like that color combination.  Maybe that is what Ruskin is referring too when he says that Hunt is the best colorist, his consistent use of an appropriate color palette matched with the subject?

William Holman Hunt