William Lee Hankey (1869–1952) was a British painter, printmaker, and book illustrator. He specialized in landscapes, character studies and portraits of pastoral life, particularly in studies of mothers with young children.
He was born in Chester and worked as a designer after leaving school. He studied art in the evenings at the Chester School of Art, then at the Royal College of Art.
Later in Paris, he became influenced by the work of Jules Bastien-Lepage, who also favoured rustic scenes depicted in a realistic but sentimental style.
He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1896 and was President of the London Sketch Club from 1902 to 1904.
He lived in France for a time and produced a body of work of French villages and Breton peasants. He taught etching at London Goldsmith's College and exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy.
His figure study etchings show great technical virtuosity
This is a fabulous colour etching and aquatint print by Hankey. It shows a lady sewing a patchwork quilt. She is seated in a chair with her open sewing box on the desk beside her. Her quilt is spread out over her knees and falls onto the floor in front of her. The colours of the quilt allow Hankey to add blushes of light colour to the print. His distinctive monogram appears in the bottom right hand corner.
This print relates to a much larger oil painting of the same subject. The oil has the woman seated in the opposite direction and the wall with the little picture on it behind the seamstress has been replaced with a window.
It is signed in the plate with the artist's monogram, lower right, and also signed faintly in pencil below the image.
It is undated but is an earlier work and probably dates to 1910. There is another impression in the Gallery of New South Wales in Australia - and this was purchased for the collection in 1912.
Dimensions: Frame 33.5 x 26 cm; Image size is 20 x 15 cm
This is a very rare early work by Hankey and comes from an edition of only 25 impressions. Another one is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
My impression is in fair enough condition - with a little bit of old discolouration to the bottom left hand corner (as photographed in extreme close-up). But this is certainly not disfiguring and adds some antique charm of the image. It is beautifully presented and is being sold with a new window mount and simple black frame - it is all ready to go straight on your wall. A beautiful print, and you will not be disappointed with it. My price reflects the early date of this Hankey work and its rarity and status as a work of museum quality.
UK Posting Only. This will cost £10 to send with Parcelforce24 - and this will be applied to your order at the checkout. Please check with me for postal costs to send outside of the UK.