Currently not on view
The Father's Leave-taking,
1879
William Holman Hunt, 1827–1910; born and died London, United Kingdom
Published by The Etching Club, British, active 1838–1878
Published by The Etching Club, British, active 1838–1878
x1994-102
Of the three founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (Rossetti, Hunt, and Millais), William Holman Hunt was the most dedicated to working directly from nature in order to impart an authenticity to his detailed allegorical compositions.The Father's Leave-taking, the last of seven etchings made by Hunt in his career, depicts the artist’s wife holding their infant daughter while seated in the morning sun, on the steps of an imagined neoclassical home. When looking at this print, the viewer witnesses the scene as if through the eyes of the artist: the departing father indicated in the title.
Information
Title
The Father's Leave-taking
Dates
1879
Maker
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
plate: 18.9 x 25.3 cm. (7 7/16 x 9 15/16 in.)
sheet: 33 x 47.2 cm. (13 x 18 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Surdna Fund
Object Number
x1994-102
Place Made
Europe, England, London
Inscription
Artist monogram and date in plate at pedestal, lower right: 18 WHH 79
Marks/Labels/Seals
Dated in graphite in unknown hand, lower left corner: Novr 10th 79
Reference Numbers
Bronkhurst B26; Hartnoll 17
Materials
Techniques
- British prints: 18th-20th Centuries (London: Campbell Fine Art, 1994)., no. 174 (illus.)
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1994," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 54, no. 1 (1995): p. 40-79., p. 74
- Judith Bronkhurst, William Holman Hunt, a catalogue raisonné (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006)., no. B26
