A beautifully painted farm scene of a cockerel with chickens and chicks in front of a barn. Two chicks can be seen in the foreground tussling over a piece of cabbage leaf as a hen and cockerel watch on. Meanwhile, others hens have emerged from the barn to peck at some leaves out of an overturned metal pail.

Edgar Hunt was born in Fulham, London on 10 March 1876 to the genre artist Charles Hunt (1829-1900) and his wife Anne Sarah Kilbee. His brothers Reuben Hunt (1857-1938), Walter Hunt (1860-1941) and Claud Hunt (1863-1948) also inherited their father’s talent and became successful artists. The family lived at 8 Granville Road in Wandsworth where his father kept a studio. Hunt and his brothers were all tutored by Charles and his influence can be seen in their style and subject matter. However, it was his older brother Walter who inspired him to specialise in animal paintings and whilst young, he began sketching farm animals, developing a life-long interest in their care.

On reaching adulthood, Hunt began specialising in highly detailed and finely painted works featuring animals, particularly poultry. His passion for animals led him to working on a farm near Lewes in Sussex, exchanging his labour for the cost of painting materials. Although he often stayed in Sussex, his base was at Granville Road with his family. After the death of his father in 1900, he continued to live with his mother and two brothers, Walter and Claud, at the family home.

At some point, he met the artist John Frederick Herring Jnr, whom he much admired and the two became great friends. Herring was an enormous influence on his life both artistically and socially. When Herring died in 1907, Hunt was distraught and became a recluse for a few years. In 1910, he married Theodore Wyatt and the couple moved to Inglewood on Record Road in Emsworth near Portsmouth. Most of his paintings were based upon vivid and careful drawings of animals made from life and his observations were enhanced by a meticulous attention to detail and finish. He is said to have used a magnifying glass for some of the most intricate details. Aside from a few facts, very little is known of his private life and he rarely exhibited in the London art world. He did however, exhibit eleven animal scenes at the Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham and ‘Feathered Friends’ was shown at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.

Hunt remained living in the Portsmouth area until his death on 29 May, 1955. He remains one of the most popular animal artists of his era. His work is represented in a number of public collections including the Dover Museum, Low Parks Museum, Sunderland Museum, Whitaker and Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

© Benton Fine Art