Hubert Herkomer

Sir Hubert von Herkomer CVO RA (born as Hubert Herkomer; 26 May 1849 – 31 March 1914) was a German born British painter, and also a pioneering film-director and composer. Though a very successful portraitist, especially of men, he is mainly remembered for his earlier works that took a realistic approach to the conditions of life of the poor. Hard Times (1885; Manchester Art Gallery) showing the family of a travelling day-labourer at the side of a road, is probably one of his best known works.

Herkomer was born at Waal, Bavaria. His family was poor and his mother tried to supplement the earnings of his father by giving music lessons. Once his mother gave him a half sovereign for some shopping: "It was the last piece of gold in the place. I lost it. My parents were in despair". Lorenz Herkomer, his father and a wood-carver of great ability, left Bavaria in 1851 with his wife and child for the United States, settling in Cleveland, Ohio. They soon returned to Europe and settled in Southampton in 1857, before moving to a house called Dyreham in Bushey in 1874. Hubert's education was slight: "He went to school for a month or two, and, falling ill never returned". (Chums)

In a lengthy interview for Chums boys' annual in 1896, Herkomer recalled his childhood: "We had an anxious time of it when I was a boy. We were constantly in want of money..... I was always inclined to art, and as a little boy worked principally at my father's bench, but by the time I had turned twelve I had produced quite a number of water-colour drawings. The reputation I gained among my play fellows, however, was as a maker of kites". He also crafted mechanical toys including clowns and wagons to give to his friends.

He lived for some time at Southampton and in the school of art there began his art training. An uncle in America commissioned his father to carve the four evangelists in wood. Receiving some money his father determined to take Hubert to Munich so that he could study art whilst his father worked on the carving. In Chums, he recalled his trip vividly: "Ah, how I remember that first visit to Germany! ... We crossed to Antwerp in a cattle boat ... And never shall I forget the miseries of that voyage. And then there were the railway carriages on the other side. We were compelled to travel fourth-class, in the company of people who were no less filthy than the carriages; and I remember..... I swore a big oath that if ever I had any money I would travel in the most luxurious style possible. I have never forgotten that oath". The pair led a hard life whilst in Munich, but he stated that "they were very happy days" and his father sat as model for him during that time. In 1866 he entered upon a more serious course of study at the South Kensington Schools and, in 1869, exhibited for the first time at the Royal Academy. He sold his first picture for two guineas but by the time he was twenty-four, he had sold a picture for five hundred pounds.

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