19 Works, September 25th. is Arthur Hacker's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #210

Arthur Hacker (1858–1919)

Lewis Waller (1860–1915), as Henry V (from 'Henry V'), c. 1900

Oil on board

H 40.5 x W 32.4 cm

Royal Shakespeare Theatre

William Waller Lewis was an English actor and theatre manager, well known on the London stage and in the English provinces. More on William Waller Lewis

Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written near 1599. It tells the story of King Henry V of England, focusing on events immediately before and after the Battle of Agincourt (1415) during the Hundred Years' War. More on Henry V

Arthur Hacker RA (St Pancras, Middlesex, 25 September 1858 – 12 November 1919 Kensington, London) was an English classicist painter. Hacker introduced a strong element of French academic realism into British exhibitions. In the first decade of the twentieth century, he changed his approach to produce atmospheric landscapes and townscapes in a Post-Impressionist style. Occasionally, he also painted still life compositions focussing on flowers.

Hacker was the son of Edward Hacker (1812–1905), a line engraver specialising in animal and sporting prints (who was also for many years the registrar of Births and Deaths for the Kentish Town sub-district of Pancras Registration District, Middlesex).

Arthur Hacker

Study on the Judgement of Paris, circa 1900

Oil (lucid) on wood

26 x 34.5 cm

Private collection

The judgment of Paris was a contest between the three most beautiful goddesses of Olympos--Aphrodite, Hera and Athena--for the prize of a golden apple addressed "To the Fairest."

 

The story began with the wedding of Peleus and Thetis which all the gods had been invited to attend except for Eris, goddess of discord. When Eris appeared at the festivities she was turned away and in her anger cast the golden apple amongst the assembled goddesses addressed "To the Fairest." Three goddesses laid claim to the apple--Aphrodite, Hera and Athena. Zeus was asked to mediate and he commanded Hermes to lead the three goddesses to Paris of Troy to decide the issue. The three goddesses appearing before the shepherd prince, each offering him gifts for favour. He chose Aphrodite, swayed by her promise to bestow upon him Helene, the most beautiful woman, for wife. The subsequent abduction of Helene led directly to the Trojan War and the fall of the city. More on The judgment of Paris

 Arthur Hacker

The Sea Maiden, 1897

Oil on canvas

50¾ x 51½ in. (128.9 x 130.7 cm.)

Private collection

The Sea-Maiden is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands, listing his informant as John Mackenzie, fisherman, near Inverary. Joseph Jacobs included it in Celtic Fairy Tales.

A mermaid offered a fisherman much fish in return for his son. He said he had none. In Campbells' version, she offered him grains: three for his wife, three for a mare, three for a dog, three to plant in the yard; then there would be three sons, three foals, three puppies, and three trees, and she should have one son when he was three. In Jacobs's version, she merely said he would have a son, and when the boy was twenty, she would take him. More on the Sea Maiden

 Arthur Hacker

A NUDE BACCHANTE WITH A CHILD FAUN

Oil on canvas

129.5 by 94cm., 51 by 37in.

Private collection

In Greek mythology, maenads were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of the Thiasus, the god's retinue. Their name literally translates as "raving ones." Maenads were known as Bassarids, Bacchae or Bacchantes in Roman mythology, after the penchant of the equivalent Roman god, Bacchus, to wear a bassaris or fox-skin.

Often the maenads were portrayed as inspired by Dionysus into a state of ecstatic frenzy through a combination of dancing and intoxication. During these rites, the maenads would dress in fawn skins and carry a thyrsus, a long stick wrapped in ivy or vine leaves and tipped with a pine cone. They would weave ivy-wreaths around their heads or wear a bull helmet in honor of their god, and often handle or wear snakes. More Bacchante

Arthur Hacker, 1858-1919

Daphne, c.1890

Oil on canvas

H 185 x W 70 cm

Ferens Art Gallery

Daphne, a minor figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. She is said by ancient sources variously to have been a daughter of the river god Peneus and the nymph Creusa in Thessaly. More on Daphne

Arthur Hacker  (1858–1919)

Syrinx

Oil on canvas

Height: 193.4 cm (76.1 in); Width: 61.4 cm (24.1 in)

Manchester Art Gallery 

A mythological naked female figure with dark hair and dark drapery falling from her arms, standing at the edge of a river amongst tall reeds. She is posed with her left arm stretched up over her head, her right arm grasping the reeds beside her, at the water's edge, her feet partly submerged in the river. She gazes off to the right of the picture with a solemn expression. The moment of her transformation is shown here. More on this painting

In classical Greek mythology, Syrinx was a nymph and a follower of Artemis, known for her chastity. Pursued by the amorous god Pan, she ran to a river's edge and asked for assistance from the river nymphs. In answer, she was transformed into hollow water reeds that made a haunting sound when the god's frustrated breath blew across them. Pan cut the reeds to fashion the first set of panpipes, which were thenceforth known as syrinx. The word syringe was derived from this word. More on Syrinx

This painting was one of the targets of the Suffragette attack of Thursday 3rd April 1913. On that evening, as the building was about to close, three women smashed the glass of 13 paintings. As they ran off, one dropped a small hammer with purple, green and white ribbons attached and a card that demanded: 'Votes for Women!' and 'Stop Forcible Feeding!' The women were arrested and charged. There is no evidence that the women chose to attack paintings with narratives of sexual aggression, or female nudes. Rather, it seems they targetted the nearest, largest, or most famous works. 

Hacker was a well-known painter of portraits, genre, and large allegorical art, prints and posters. He also excelled in painting the nude. His art was also influenced by his extensive travels in Spain and North Africa, the latter providing the setting for his painting Pelagia and Philammon, exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery, London, in 1887, in a highly dramatic French style. The Annunciation, which was bought by the Chantry Bequest in 1892 was in a similar vein.

Arthur Hacker  (1858–1919)

Pelagia and Philammon, c. 1887

Oil on canvas

Height: 113 cm (44.4 in); Width: 184.2 cm (72.5 in)

Walker Art Gallery

Hypatia, or New Foes with an Old Face is an 1853 novel by the English writer Charles Kingsley. It is a fictionalised account of the life of the philosopher Hypatia, and tells the story of a young monk called Philammon who travels to Alexandria, where he becomes mixed up in the political and religious battles of the day. Intended as Christian apologia, it reflects typical 19th-century religious sentiments of the day. For many years the book was considered one of Kingsley's best novels and was widely read.

This painting llustrates a scene from the final pages of Kingsley's novel. Philammon finds his sister Pelagia - who has been living as a hermit in the desert - at the point of death, and administers the holy sacraments to her. More on Pelagia and Philammon

Arthur Hacker (1858–1919)

Persephone, c.1888–1889

Oil on canvas

H 272 x W 165 cm

Torre Abbey Museum

In Greek mythology, Persephone (also known as Proserpina) was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter (goddess of agriculture) and was queen of the Underworld. One day while the young maiden was picking flowers, Hades, god of the underworld, kidnapped Persephone and carried her back to the underworld to be his wife.

 

Demeter begged Zeus to command the release of her daughter, and Persephone was told that she would be released from the underworld, as long as she didn't consume any food while she was there. But when she thought no one was looking, Persephone went into the garden and ate six pomegranate seeds. She was thus doomed to spend six months of the year with Hades, while for the other six months she could return to Earth to see her mother. The myth holds that the months Persephone spends in the underworld leave the earth cold, dark, and wintry, but when she returns, spring and summer accompany her.

 

Modern readers should note that in Bernini's time the word "rape" signified "kidnapping"; thus, the sculpture thus represents the kidnapping of Persephone. More on Persephone

Arthur Hacker  (1858–1919)

The Temptation of Sir Percival, c. 1894

Oil on canvas

132.1 x 157.5 cm

Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds Museums and Galleries

Chrétien de Troyes wrote ‘Perceval ou le Conte du Graal [Perceval and the Story of the Grail]’ in 1181-91AD, but the story of his quest for the Holy Grail was left unfinished. In 1485, Sir Thomas Malory’s book ‘Le Morte d’Arthur [The Death of Arthur]’ was first published, combining many stories about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, of which Perceval was one. This oil painting is an illustration from a later edition of Malory’s famous book. It depicts Perceval being tempted by a demon in the guise of a beautiful woman. More on the Temptation of Sir Percival

He studied at the Royal Academy between 1876 and 1880, and spent a year in the atelier of the academic portrait painter, Léon Bonnat, in Paris, alongside Stanhope Forbes, among others. Having absorbed the realism and the plein-air practice of French painting, he embarked on a tour of Spain, Morocco and Algeria, to research classical and religious subjects.

Arthur Hacker (1858–1919)

By the Waters of Babylon

Oil on canvas

H 267.4 x W 168.5 cm

Touchstones Rochdale

Psalm 137 is the 137th psalm of the Book of Psalms, and as such it is included in the Hebrew Bible.

After Nebuchadnezzar II's successful siege of Jerusalem in 597 BC, and subsequent campaigns, inhabitants of the Kingdom of Judah were deported to Babylonia, where they were held captive until some time after the Fall of Babylon (539 BC). The rivers of Babylon are the Euphrates river, its tributaries, and the Tigris river.

The psalm is a communal lament about being in exile after the Babylonian captivity, and yearning for Jerusalem. More on the Waters of Babylon

Arthur Hacker

The Annunciation, c. 1892

Oil paint on canvas

2311 × 1257 mm

Tate Britain

This scene shows the Christian story of the Annunciation, as told in the Gospel of James. In this version, Mary is met by an angel she cannot see while gathering water from a well. He tells her that she will have a baby and that he should be named Jesus. After studying in London and Paris, Arthur Hacker spent time in Spain and Morocco. This had a strong influence on his art. Mary’s clothing probably reflects Islamic dress Hacker saw during his travels. Infra-red photography shows that the painting originally included a woman wearing a headscarf sitting behind Mary. More on this painting

Arthur Hacker (1858–1919)

The Cloister or the World? c. 1896

Oil on canvas

H 218 x W 170.5 cm

Cartwright Hall Art Gallery

The painting represents the life of Sister Teresa Eletta of Florence from her beginning Holy Orders, serving God, as a Missionary to her death.

 He was twice exhibited at the Royal Academy, in 1878 and 1910, and was elected an Academician in 1910. In 1894 he was the subject of a bust by Edward Onslow Ford. An original portrait by Hacker of Sir Alfred Keogh by hangs in the RAMC HQ Mess at Millbank, London.

Arthur Hacker

Vale (Farewell), c. 1913

Oil on canvas

Private collection

In this ethereal composition, Vale (Farewell), two women silently part in a dense, atmospheric forest. The passion flower, enigmatically fallen to the ground, and the evocative title are poignant. This work was painted toward the end of Arthur Hacker’s long and successful career and would seem to be almost in anticipation of the First World War, with the irrevocable changes that it caused. More on this painting

Attributed to Arthur Hacker (1858-1919)

The High Priestess

Oil on canvas

18 x 12in. (45.8 x 31.1cm.)

Private collection

Arthur Hacker

Musicienne du Silence, c. 1900

Oil on canvas

40 x 50 in. (101.6 x 127 cm.)

Private collection

Arthur Hacker

The Gold Bowl, c. 1916

Oil on canvas

36 x 28 in. (91.4 x 71.1 cm.)

Private collection

One of his fellow pupils was Stanhope Forbes and like Forbes Hacker was much influenced by French art. In 1886 Hacker helped to found the progressive New English Art Club, an association which appears rather contrary to the academic ideals expressed in the picture he exhibited at the Academy a year later. These paintings made Hacker famous and popular in the 1890s but as the taste for grand subject pictures began to wane in the twentieth century, he concentrated upon portraiture and modern genre subjects.

Arthur Hacker, R.A. (1858-1919)

A female nude at her toilet, c. 1918

Oil on canvas

21 x 17 in. (53.3 x 43.3 cm.)

Private collection

Arthur Hacker  (1858–1919)

The Cloud, c. 1901

Oil on canvas

Height: 127.7 cm (50.2 in); Width: 130 cm (51.1 in)

The Cartwright Memorial Hall 

In 1902, Hacker built a new house at Heath End, Checkendon, Oxfordshire, called Hall Ingle, commissioning the young architect Maxwell Ayrton and carrying out the decorations himself.

Arthur Hacker  (1858–1919)

Vae Victis! c. 1890

The Sack of Morrocco by the Almohades, Woe to the Vanquished

Oil on canvas

Height: 164 cm (64.5 in); Width: 271 cm (106.6 in)

Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery 

The painting depicts the “sack of Morocco” by the Almohad Caliphate, the Berber Muslim dynasty that flourished in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries across large parts of North Africa and Southern Spain, including Cordoba and Seville. It is a horrific depiction of violence towards defenceless women. Nude and semi-nude women belonging to the harem of the conquered, are about to be raped or killed, some are dead or dying.  More on this painting

Paintings on public display include The Annunciation at Tate Britain, Pelagia and Philammon in Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery, "The Children's Prayer (1888,) The Atkinson Museum, Southport and The Temptation of Sir Percival in Leeds City Art Gallery.

He is buried in Brookwood Cemetery. More on Arthur Hacker

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