William Holman Hunt
The Light of the World 1851-53
William Holman hunt – an English painter and member of pre- Raphaelite brotherhood
The English painter William Holman Hunt was born in 1827 in London. He was one of the important members of the pre- Raphaelite brotherhood. His father was a warehouse manager, and he never wanted his son to take up painting like any other parents, but he allowed him to enter the royal academy school in 1844, where he met John Millais. Soon, hunt developed a new approach to painting that involved expressing significant moral ideas in a completely natural manner. While practicing this, he evolved and intensively practical painting skills where he used vibrant colors in the white sheet, not the old tradition which involves dark underpainting. He got awarded in 1905 as the order of merit, and after that, the exhibition showcased his paintings.
A colorful world of hunt
The founder of the pre- Raphaelite brotherhood was hunt along with Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Millais. in 1853, after the awakening conscience and light of the world, people recognized him and his work, and he devoted himself to the theme of religion in his painting. In some years after 1860, the hunt was acknowledged as a leading English painter, but due to the death of Rossetti (1882), he remained isolated from any awards or acknowledgment. He married his first wife in 1865, but she died in a year. He was obsessed with light and the effect of light on color; he was most popular because of the vivid and vibrant religious paintings he made. He died on Sep 7th, 1910.
Important artworks
- The light of the world(the 1900s) – christ's proclamation inspired the world's light in st. John's gospel was a serious painting that had three parts. And all three are showcased in different parts of the world.
- The awakening conscience – it the painting a mistress rises from the lap of the lover, the situation seems the woman's caught in a situation where her lover eventually discards her.
- The scapegoat - depicts its subject in a Jewish ritual from the Book of Leviticus in which a goat was abandoned into the desert bearing the sins of a congregation.