Price Realized £3,585
inscribed 'L.V.H' (upper right)
pencil and watercolour heightened with white
18¾ x 9 5/8 in. (47.7 x 24.5 cm.)
Hughes' lyrical aesthetic lends this unfinished study a quiet elegance. His most iconic image, Midsummer Eve (sold at Christie's, New York, 15 February 1995, lot 288, £267,516), is a triumphant testament to his artistic inheritance. As the nephew and pupil of renowned fairy painter Arthur Hughes (1832-1915), Edward was absorbed into the Pre-Raphaelite circle and assisted William Holman-Hunt (helping to complete the St Paul's version of The Light of the World, as Hunt's eyesight weakened). Hughes worked mainly in watercolour, painting literary subjects of a dreamy Symbolist hue, but also executed many portraits in red or black chalk. A regular contributor to The Royal Water-Colour Society, he was Vice-President from 1901-3, and his picture Biancabella and Samaritana was shown at the first Venice Biennale, 1895.
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