William Henry Hunt and James Holland - 'Morning Glory'

A Portrait of a Young Girl Wearing a Garland of Flowers.

Oil on Canvas

An enchanting head and shoulders portrait of a young girl wearing a white shift, her short dark curls crowned with a red-ribboned wreath of Morning Glory flowers, with her cheek resting on her hands clasped atop a column, against a ground of blue sky and two fluttering peacock butterflies. 

William Henry Hunt (1790-1864) was one of the key figures in nineteenth-century English watercolour painting. His work was extensively collected in his lifetime, particularly his genre pictures of children, often in humorous situations, and detailed, naturalistic still lifes of fruit, flowers and birds nests.

James Holland (18th October 1799 - 12th December 1870) started his career painting flowers on pottery and porcelian for the William Davenport in Longport, before going on to be recognisef as one of the finest watercolours of the English School, best known for his flowers and later views of Venice. Holland was a member of the Royal Watercolour Society and first exhibited at the London Royal Academy in 1824.