NEW BOOK
Woman Behind
the Painter, The Diaries of Rosalie, Mrs. James Clarke Hook
Edited by
Juliet McMaster.
Published March 2006, University of Alberta Press.
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Do you own a James Clarke Hook painting, or know of someone who does? We would like to hear from you!
Email Dr. Juliet McMaster
Young Dreams (1887).
Image courtesy of the Tate Gallery
R.A. (1819-1907) was a famous painter in his day, though less known than he deserves to be today. He started his career as a painter of historical subjects, but is best known for his coastal landscape and scenes of the lives and work of fisher folk.
This website features carefully researched and collected information regarding the life and works of James Clarke Hook, filling a valuable niche for enthusiasts, scholars, and owners alike. The emphasis is upon Hook and his contribution to Victorian art. However, some information regarding various friends and associates of the Hook family is available, locating Hook within a broader social and professional context. Such individuals include, for example, Millais, G. F Watts, Samuel Palmer, F. R. Pickersgill (Hook's brother-in-law), and Punch graphic artists Charles Keene and Linley Sambourne.
Particularly valuable is an extensive catalogue of Hook's works, exhibited and otherwise, along with their whereabouts if known. From about the early 1860s, Hook used the monogram above, a "JCH" with a fishing hook forming a crossbar to the H, and linking the three letters. He usually dated them, and with this date there is a good chance of identifying the original title of paintings, especially if he had exhibited it at the Royal Academy.
Various paintings are showcased here; in the then & now section, you can see some of them juxtaposed with a present-day photograph of their site. Further resources include links to a number of galleries wherein one or more Hooks might be found.