CE -- A lifetime of collecting comic related material :: My Origin Story Illustrated

One Reason Why I Had to Sell Some Comic Art, William Henry Hunt, The Eavesdropper, 1839

Artist: William Henry Hunt (Painter)

4 Comments - 289 Views - 4 Likes

One Reason Why I Had to Sell Some Comic Art, William Henry Hunt, The Eavesdropper, 1839 Comic Art

Additional Images:

William Cuthbert Quilter's (former owner) "House"

An Example of a Painting by Sir Frederick Burton Who Praised The Eavesdropper

Previous Item:
William Henry Hunt, Too Hot, 1832 -- The One on Which I Outbid a Koch Brother at Auction

Artwork Details

Title:	One Reason Why I Had to Sell Some Comic Art, William Henry Hunt, The Eavesdropper, 1839
Artist:	William Henry Hunt (Painter)
Media Type:	Paint - Watercolor
Art Type:	Other
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	289
Likes on CAF:	4 5
Comments:	4
Added to Site:	6/5/2021
Comic Art Archive:

Description

After 17 more years of collecting Hunt watercolors after buying Too Hot! n 1986, my comic art and animation collections suffered the greatest loses when I just had to have this watercolor when it sold at Christie's London in 2003. After all, I had wanted it since I had first seen an old image of it on that first day in the art library 26 years earlier -- that was even a year longer than I had had to wait for the Murphy Anderson Justice Society spread! But I knew that I was going to be in trouble when it came to buying this painting, which had long been considered one of Hunt's absolute masterpieces. It had been in the same family's possession for 133 years, it was highly praised by John Ruskin, the famous 19th century English writer and art critic, it was not only one of the artist's largest watercolors (30 X 20 in.) but was in the best condition of any of the few works that large that the artist had painted. Among the members of the Quilter family who had inherited the watercolor was Harry Quilter, a lawyer and the art critic for the London Times. He had famously been one of J.M. Whistler's worst enemies and had actually bought that artist's house after Whistler lost everything in obtaining his pyrrhic victory in his defamation lawsuit against John Ruskin. The Hunt was subsequently inherited by William Cuthbert Quilter, on whose fabulous estate (he was a major holder of stock in England's first telephone company) the newly invented radar was tested. And while the picture was owned by the brothers' father, William Quilter (who also owned Too Hot! by Hunt until 1875), Sir Frederick Burton, the then director of England's National Gallery of Art, pointed to this painting and declared it to be the finest watercolor in the world.

Well, I prevailed at Christie's, but I almost had a nervous breakdown trying to come up with the money to pay for my victory. I ultimately had to sell a large number of comic book pages and animation cels, and I barely did so in time to prevent this long-desired watercolor from being re-auctioned by Christie's. When the head of the auction house's department of drawings and watercolors later came to see me on a visit to L.A., she told me that this was the finest Hunt that Christie's had sold during her 20+ years with the firm. I, of course, agreed, but I didn't take it further -- my humble opinion is more in line with Sir Frederick Burton's assessment more than 100 years earlier, that it is the best watercolor that Hunt EVER painted, maybe even the finest watercolor in the world!

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About the Owner

	C E
Joined:	April 2006
Last Login:	August 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	C's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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Comments on this Artwork

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Monty B
Member Since 2006

Posted on 6/6/2021

Wonderful painting!!! I also really enjoy reading your stories...please keep them coming... :-)

Ruben DaCollector
Member Since 2008

Posted on 6/6/2021

It's a real beauty, no doubt about it! Just remember that if you ever need to help pay for more fine art, you can always reach me to use your Grummett art a payment! Speaking of which, I have owned the Superboy #47 cover for years already. Perhaps you could delete it from your gallery?

C E
Member Since 2006

1 - Posted on 6/6/2021

Ruben DaCollector wrote:

Hi Ruben,

Thanks for the comment. Fortunately, the watercolor market largely collapsed several years ago -- I have been able to buy everything I've wanted at auction, without the need to raise large sums of money by selling other art. I did, in fact, remove the Superboy cover from my Grummett gallery when I sold it many years ago. Note that it is now shown in the gallery "sold art."

Ben Friedman
Member Since 2006

Posted on 6/6/2021

Gorgeous. Any collector worth his or her salt can sympathize with your story. Sometimes, you just have to have a piece of art, no matter what the cost. I'm sure you have never regretted your decision to go for it.

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