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Mary Walker Waugh
About the Artwork
William Holman Hunt painted this portrait of Mary Walker Waugh (1805–1886)—his mother-in-law—during a time of personal tragedy. Waugh’s daughter Fanny Waugh Hunt (1832–1866), the wife of the artist, had recently died following childbirth. References to loss of life infiltrate the composition: the sitter wears black mourning attire, and behind her is a screen decorated with red poppies, a traditional symbol of unconsciousness and lifelessness because of its pharmaceutical use as a source for opiates. In Victorian society, the red poppy also signified consolation.
Inscriptions
Signed and dated lower left: 18whh68 [initials in monogram]; and signed again lower left: whh [monogram]
Provenance
Mrs. Michael Joseph, the artist's daughter, [1876-1951], London, United Kingdom, by inheritance to her daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Burt 1951-1961: Mrs. Elizabeth Burt, London, United Kingdom consigned to Christie's for sale 1961: (Christie's, London, United Kingdom, March 17, 1961, lot 70, sold to Evelyn Waugh) 1961: Auberon Evelyn Waugh [1903-1966], London. United Kingdom 1983: (Christie's, London, United Kingdom, March 18,1983, lot 73, sold to Julian Hartnoll) 1983-1984: (Julian Hartnoll Gallery, London, United Kingdom, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1984-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Year in Review for 1984. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 3-May 5, 1985). Holman Hunt and the Pre-Raphaelite Vision. Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario M5T 1G4, Canada (organizer) (February 14-May 10, 2009); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (June 13-September 6, 2009).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- William Holman Hunt (British, 1827–1910)
- Date
- 1868
- Medium
- oil on fabric
- Dimensions
- Framed: 115.5 x 95.5 x 6 cm (45 1/2 x 37 5/8 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 86.2 x 66.1 cm (33 15/16 x 26 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
- Accession no.
- 1984.41
More by William Holman Hunt in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009258
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