A lovely genre painting of two women having tea by Robert Alexander Hillingford. Two well-dressed young women are depicted seated on a hardwood framed upholstered settee in an expensively decorated drawing room. One of the women is shown clasping a fan as she leans towards her friend, who with teacup in hand has stopped to listen. A samovar can be seen on a table to the left whilst a lute lies against a stool by their feet, indicating a Russian or European connection.

Robert Alexander Hillingford was born in London on 28 January, 1828. In 1841, he moved to Germany to study at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. After 5 years of studying he travelled to Italy visiting Rome, Naples and Florence where he met and married his wife Ciara in 1858. During this time, he produced paintings of Italian life and one of these ‘The Last Evening of the Carnival’ was exhibited at St. Petersburg in 1859.

In 1864, he returned with his family to London and began to specialise in historical subjects often including battle scenes. He also produced a number of theatrical scenes and contemporary paintings of the Boer War. He made his debut at the Royal Academy in 1866 exhibiting there regularly throughout his career. He also exhibited at the British Institution, Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham, Glasgow Institute, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, Manchester City Art Gallery, Royal Institute of Oil Painters and Arthur Tooth Gallery.

From 1871 he lived at 30 Scarsdale Villas, in Kensington and by 1878 had moved to Cornwall Lodge in Rowan Road from where he worked and exhibited from until 1892. Hillingford was known for his close attention to accuracy in details of dress and had a collection of original uniforms. He was Vice President of the Kernoozers Club an organisation for collectors of objets d’art and militaria. He died in Fulham in 1904.

Examples of his paintings can be found at the Courtauld Institute, Grundy Art Gallery, Glasgow Art Gallery, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, Williamson Art.

© Benton Fine Art