Portrait of Robert Walker Macbeth, October 1892

Sir Hubert von Herkomer RA (1849 - 1914)

RA Collection: Art

Hubert von Herkomer was known for his paintings of social realist subjects but he nevertheless turned to the more lucrative field of portraiture during the 1880s. His ability to paint large-scale, formal portraits in a short space of time brought him considerable success and financial reward. However, his commissioned works bear little resemblance to his smaller and more intimate portraits of friends, such as this lively watercolour made as a gift for fellow artist Robert Walker Macbeth.

Herkomer was born in Bavaria, Germany, and met Macbeth, a Scottish landscape painter and printmaker (1848-1910), in London where both began their careers producing illustrations for the new journal The Graphic.