Edward Robert Hughes | |
|---|---|
 Hughes in 1870 | |
| Born | (1851-11-05)5 November 1851 Clerkenwell, London, U.K. |
| Died | 23 April 1914(1914-04-23) (aged 62) St Albans, Hertfordshire, U.K. |
| Education | Heatherleys Royal Academy Schools Arthur Hughes (uncle) William Holman Hunt Arthur Foord Hughes George MacDonald |
| Known for | oil painting |
| Movement | Pre-Raphaelitism |
| Spouses | |
| Family | William Arthur Hughes (nephew) |
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Edward Robert HughesRWS (5 November 1851 – 23 April 1914) was a British painter, who primarily worked in watercolours, but also produced a number ofoil paintings. He was influenced by his uncle and artist,Arthur Hughes who was associated with thePre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and worked closely with one of the Brotherhood's founders,William Holman Hunt.
Having settled on his career choice, Edward Robert Hughes attendedHeatherleys in London to prepare himself for the chance of entering theRoyal Academy Schools.[1]: 11 Hughes became a student at the Royal Academy School in 1868. WhilePre-Raphaelitism played an influential part in shaping Hughes work,Aestheticism is also seen in his paintings.
E. R. Hughes is best known for his fantastical watercolours such asMidsummer Eve andNight with her Train of Stars, yet initially he built a career as a portrait painter to the upper classes.[1]: 17
In addition to being an artist himself, E. R. Hughes was also a studio assistant to the elder artist and Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood founding memberWilliam Holman Hunt. In later life Hunt suffered from glaucoma, and Hughes made a substantial contribution to a number of Hunt's paintings.[1]: 30 Two of the paintings that Hughes worked on with Hunt wereThe Light of the World, which is displayed inSt Paul's Cathedral, andThe Lady of Shalott, which is exhibited at theWadsworth Atheneum.
On his own he experimented with techniques and was a perfectionist; he did studies for many of his paintings, some of which turned out to be good enough for exhibition.
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Hughes held several important offices within the artistic community over his lifetime, such as becoming a member of theArt Workers Guild in 1888, and was on their committee from 1895 to 1897.[1]: 21 He was elected to Associate Membership of theRoyal Watercolour Society (ARWS) on 18 February 1891, and he chose as his diploma work for election to full membership a mystical piece (Oh, What's That in the Hollow?) inspired by a verse byChristina Rossetti entitledAmor Mundi.[1]: 23 His paintingA Witch was given by the Royal Watercolour Society to King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra to mark thecoronation in 1902.[2] This work is based on his illustration entitledThe Demon transporting Isabella to Ortodosia in W. G. Waters'sThe Italian Novelists published in 1901.[3] In later years Hughes served as the Vice-President of the RWS before leaving in 1903.[1]: 29 Throughout his career, E. R. Hughes exhibited his works in several galleries around London:Dudley Gallery,Grosvenor Gallery,New Gallery,The Royal Academy, and toward the end of his career he exhibited with The Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours (RWS).[1]: 1
His works can be seen in public collections includingCartwright Hall,Bradford,Cambridge & County Folk Museum,Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery,Bruce Castle Museum,Kensington Central Library,Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, theAshmolean Museum,Oxford, theHarris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston, and theNational Trust for Scotland.
Birmingham Museums Trust staged a retrospective exhibition,Enchanted Dreams: The Pre-Raphaelite Art of E.R. Hughes, from 17 October 2015 to 21 February 2016 atBirmingham Museum and Art Gallery.[4]
His auction record is $866,500 (£522,366) forDream Idyll (A Valkyrie), sold at Sotheby's (New York) on 22 October 2009.[5]
E. R. Hughes (known to his family as "Ted") was born inClerkenwell, London, in 1851 to Edward Hughes Snr. and Harriet Foord. He had one brother, William Arthur Hughes, who was two years younger than him and became a frame maker (gilder) and, by 1891, a photographer. During the 1860s he lived for a time with his uncleArthur Hughes and his family, which included his sonArthur Foord Hughes, also an artist.[1]: 10 In 1874 Hughes became engaged to Mary MacDonald, the daughter of the writerGeorge MacDonald. Unfortunately, Mary died four years later. In 1883 Hughes married Emily Eliza Davies.[1]: 17 In 1913 they moved toSt Albans, Hertfordshire, where he was later stricken withappendicitis. He died after surgery on 23 April 1914 in his home (no. 3 Romeland). The marriage did not produce any offspring.
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