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Hard Times
painting
Herkomer, Hubert von
Europe, United Kingdom, England
1885
1885.24
oil paint
86.5 x 112 cm
Hard Times 1885
Sir Hubert von Herkomer 1849-1914
Oil on canvas
Herkomer was inspired to paint Hard Times
when he encountered a group of itinerant workers
near his home in Bushey, Hertfordshire.
During the severe economic depression of the 1880s
he recalled 'distress among the labouring classes...
Hundreds of honest labourers wandered the country
in search of work.'
He painted the landscape from a specially-built hut
and employed a local family as studio models.
Annie Quarry had posed for him before
but her husband James usually worked as a labourer.
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