Anon. Portrait of Artist Thomas John Hughes

Thomas John Hughes: Victorian Sketches

This photograph is one of a small collection of works attributed to Thomas John Hughes, believed to be the Victorian painter active around 1851–1865. Little is recorded about Hughes's life, but his large canvases include sentimental Victorian narrative subjects, such as 'Leaving Home', a girl on her knees praying beside her packed suitcases, and 'A First Attempt' (1860), depicting a young child painting an artist's mannequin.

There is also a listed artist T.J. Hughes, who may be one and the same. T.J. Hughes is recorded as having exhibited across London in the 1850s: at the Royal Academy in 1851, living at 28 High St, Camden Town, and in 1858, living at 72 Upper Seymour St; and at the Royal Society of British Artists in 1854, living at 52 Mornington Road, Regents Park, and in 1857, at 7 Clarendon St, Euston Square, then as Thomas John Hughes in 1879, 2 Elm Row, Hampstead.

His deft sketches, in graphite and in watercolour, bear the skill of a professional artist. Forms are expertly proportioned and finely modelled. Whilst Hughes's known canvases are Victorian confections, his drawings show his interest in and close study of the natural world—its landscapes, animals and people.