GEORGE SHERWOOD HUNTER, R.B.A. (1846-1918)

BOATMEN AT SUNRISE BY THE GRAND CANAL, VENICE
Oil on canvas
83 x 120 cm
 
PROVENANCE:
Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, London, 1/11/1977;
Anonymous sale, Neumeister, Munich, 02/07/2008;
Private collection, U.K. (until 2025)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hunter painted a number of views of Venice on his trip to the city in 1875, with at least one exhibited several years later at the Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts (in 1880). 
 
 
George Sherwood Hunter was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, where he lived until 1886, when he moved to London. He then travelled widely throughout Europe and also to Jerusalem, via Egypt, Palestine and Syria, a trip which took several months and led to some of his most ambitious paintings. 
 
Hunter moved to Newlyn, Cornwall, in 1897, where he lived at Belle Vue, and from 1902 moved to The Malt House where he stayed until his death. Hunter assisted in teaching at the  Forbes School of Painting in the early days of the School (so named for the Stanhope and Elizabeth Forbes).
 
Commenting on his influence on the aforementioned Forbes, Constance Birch wrote 'Among the older painters of the colony...Mr and Mrs Forbes feel that they owe a debt of gratitude to Mr G S Hunter, an artist of sincere and thoughtful individuality who is always ready to help and supplement the teacher's efforts. His own studio...is a perfect treasure-house of beautiful and interesting work.'