This calming late 19th-century oil painting by American artist Edmund Aubrey Hunt RBA (1855-1922) depicts a picturesque landscape with a lake and boats.
A quiet stretch of water is bordered by low grassy banks beneath an ample sky filled with passing clouds. These appear to drift across the scene, allowing light to fall unevenly across the landscape below. Hunt has used soft greys, pale blues and warm highlights to describe shifting weather conditions and added emphasis via a low horizon.
In the foreground, the water is described with loose horizontal strokes of pale blues, greys and soft greens, suggesting gentle ripples. A small boat rests - its occupants suggested with a few touches of darker pigment and hints of red.
Beyond the water, a low bank stretches across the horizon where a line of slender trees rises intermittently - their forms reduced to delicate silhouettes against the sky. While on the right, a larger cluster of trees stands prominently, forming a mass that anchors the scene.
The overall effect is tranquil and atmospheric, capturing a fleeting moment of light, wind and water, from his restful position on the bank.
During the late 19th century, many landscape painters began to work directly from nature - painting outdoors and using freer brushwork to record the ever-changing effects of light. By the 1880s, the influence of French landscape painting - particularly the Barbizon school and the emerging Impressionist movement - had encouraged painters to prioritise atmosphere and tonal harmony over exactitude.
This painting reflects that shift in approach. Hunt focuses on the sensation of the landscape rather than its precise geography. The trees are simplified into tonal shapes, the figures in the boat are lightly suggested, and the water is developed in broad strokes.
Edmund Aubrey Hunt was an American-born painter who trained in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts under Jean-Léon Gérôme. After completing his studies, he established his career largely in Britain while travelling widely across Europe.
Although his academic training provided him with a solid technical foundation, he developed a style that placed strong emphasis on atmosphere. Contemporary critics frequently commented on his ability to capture the mood of a landscape.
He travelled extensively throughout Europe during the early part of his career, visiting regions such as France, the Low Countries and Italy. These journeys provided subjects for many of his landscapes and maritime scenes.
Signed in the lower left and held in a late 19th-century gilt frame with an ornate scrolling design, which is possibly original.
Learn more about Edmund Aubrey Hunt RBA in our directory.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 30½” x 19” / 78cm x 48cm
Year of creation: c. 1887
Labels & Inscriptions: Signed and dated on reverse.
Provenance: Private collection, UK.
Condition: Cleaned. Areas of fine and settled craquelure, as you would expect. The paint layer is stable. Frame in good condition with minor age-related wear.
Artist’s auction maximum: £17,000 for ‘Fishing Craft With The Riva Degli Schiavoni, Venice’, Oil on canvas, Christie’s, Fine Victorian Pictures, Drawings And Watercolours, London, 4 November 1994 (lot 162).
Our reference: BRV2266
