The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Mary Walker Waugh

1868

William Holman Hunt

(British, 1827–1910)
England, 19th century
oil on fabric
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.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1984.41
Location: 220 19th Century European

Did You Know?

British novelist Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966) once owned this portrait, which depicts his great aunt.

Description

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.
  • 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
  • "Royal Academy 101st Exhibition." The Art-Journal 8 (July 1, 1869): 197-204. Mentioned: P. 202
    Graves, Algernon. The Royal Academy of Arts; A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and Their Work from Its Foundation in 1769 to 1904. London, United Kingdom: H. Graves and Co, 1905. Reproduced: p. 200, vol. 4
    Rossetti, William Michael, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Christina Georgina Rossetti. Rossetti Papers 1862 to 1870. New York, NY: AMS Press, 1970. Mentioned: P. 304-305
    The Pre-Raphaelites. London, United Kingdom, Tate Gallery, 1984.
    Turner, Evan H., "The Year in Review for 1984." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LXXII no. no. 2 (April, 1985):163-207. Reproduced: p. 186, no. 18; Mentioned: p. 200, no. 18
    Holman-Hunt, Diana. My Grandfather, His Wives and Loves. London, United Kingdom: Columbus, 1987. Reproduced: p. 261
    Waugh, Auberon. "Evelyn Waugh's Collection." Antique 5 (Summer 1987): 29. Mentioned: P. 10
    Amor, Anne Clark. William Holman Hunt: The True Pre-Raphaelite. London: Constable, 1989. Reproduced: [plate 22]; mentioned: p. 199
    Cole, Mark. "A Haunting Portrait of by William Holman Hunt." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LXXVII, no. 10 (December, 1990): 354-365. Reproduced: on cover
    Chong, Alan. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993. Reproduced: P. 109
    Christie, Manson & Woods. Fine Victorian Pictures, Drawings and Watercolours. 1995. Mentioned: P. 108
    D'Argencourt, Louise and Roger Diederen. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Catalogue of Paintings, Part Four: European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999. Reproduced: p. 126
    Bronkhurst, Judith. William Holman Hunt: A Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven, CT: Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, 2006. Reproduced: p. 110
    Christie, Manson & Woods. Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite & British Impressionist Art. London: Christie's, 2015. Reproduced: p. 94, fig. 1
  • 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).
    Year in Review for 1984. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 3-May 5, 1985).
    Portrait of a Lady. Annual Exhibition Royal Academy, London, United Kingdom (1869).
    William Holman Hunt. Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, United Kingdom; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom (1969)
    Paintings and Drawings by the Pre-Raphaelites and their Followers. Russell-Coates Gallery. Bournemouth, United Kingdom (1951).
  • {{cite web|title=Mary Walker Waugh|url=false|author=William Holman Hunt|year=1868|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1984.41