Herbert William Weekes (fl. 1864–1904) was a well-known British genre and animal painter of the Victorian Neoclassical period who specialized in portraying animals in humorous, human-like situations.
Early life and family
Weekes was born ca. 1842 in Pimlico, London, England[1] to a prominent artistic family: the youngest of five children,[2][3] his father, Henry Weekes, Sr. (1807–1877), was a sculptor and Royal Academician;[4] his brother, Henry, Jr. (fl. 1850–1884), was also a genre painter known for his animal studies;[2][5] and his brother, Frederick (1833–1920), was an artist and expert on medieval costume and design.[6]
Later life and career
Weekes appears to have used his middle name, William, for all but formal purposes. He lived and worked for most of his life in London, at 21 Oppidans Road, Primrose Hill.[5][7] In 1865, he married artist Caroline Anne Henshaw (born ca. 1844), of Hammersmith.[1][8][9]
A demobilized soldier with a basket of ferns on his back, walking furtively through a hamlet, is chased by a flock of geese while being watch by a family standing outside their cottage.
"Suspicion (ca. 1900)", oil-on-canvas
Adult and baby donkey being addressed by a rooster standing on a wheelbarrow full of hay, with ten hens watching
"Fowl Talk", oil-on-canvas
William Weekes signature
Weekes' signature
Known as an animal and genre painter of the Victorian Neoclassical style, Weekes' work was popular, and helped expand 19th century animal painting from its traditional role of simply recording beasts into a way of reflecting human life.[10][11] He frequently personified animals and placed them in situations particular to humans. His work shows a sensitive understanding of his subject matter, and part of his success in capturing the peaceful country atmosphere depicted in so many of his paintings lay in his affection for it.[12] He was greatly influenced by one of the foremost animal painters of the nineteenth century, Sir Edwin Henry Landseer.[7]
Weekes contributed illustrations for The Illustrated London News in 1883, and exhibited extensively in various London and provincial galleries. His works were well received - although not by everyone: a contemporary wit described his paintings as “Weekes' Weak Squeaks”.[3]
His works were alternatively signed with the initials 'WW' (sometimes overlaid), 'W. Weekes', 'William Weekes', 'Herbert William Weekes', 'H.W. Weekes', 'H. Weekes', and simply 'Weekes'. They were exhibited in a variety of venues from 1864 to 1904, with frequencies as follows:[3]
Royal Academy (59)
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (15)
Royal Society of British Artists (10)
Royal Institute of Oil Painters (8)
Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (6)
Arthur Tooth Gallery (3)
Manchester City Art Gallery (3)
Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts (2)
Fine Art Society (1)
Grosvenor Gallery (1)
Works
This is an inexhaustive list of Weekes' paintings, primarily done in oil on canvas:
Acquainted With Whoa
Anticipation
An Appeal to the Benevolent
An Appreciative Audience
The Avenged
Backyard Gossip - Two Smooth-Coated Fox Terriers
Barnyard Friends
Best of Friends
The Blockade
A Captive Audience
Christmas Greetings
Cold As Charity
Congratulations
Consulting the Oracle
A Critic
Court of Arbitration
Darby and Joan
Curiosity
The Disputed Gate
A Donkey and Geese Beside a Wheelbarrow
The Eviction
Farmyard Friends
Feeding the Pigs (1879)
A Friendly Gathering
Fowl Talk
Fox Terrier (1879)
A Giant Snowball
Giving Way
A Glimpse of the News
Going to the Dogs
The Good and the Bad Little Pig (ca.1880, pencil and pen on paper, signed, featuring two pigs in human clothing: a piglet trots down a street playing a flute. A female pig stands beside an upturned apple cart and gesticulates with a stick at the piglet.)
Good Friends
Good Taste
The Grand Procession
In Great Difficulties
The Guardian of the Greens
Guarding the Chicks
Guilty Conscience
The Haggle
How Dare You
I Smell a Rat
Kennel Companions (1870)
The Little Calf
A Little Girl Feeding Geese
The Low Comedian's Reception
Mother and Foal
Music Hath Charms aka Music To Their Ears
My Lady's at Home
Not One of Us
Outnumbered
Patience is a virtue
The Patient and the Quacks
The Pawnbrokers (1872)
Peasant Woman in Oval (original title unknown)
The Pig's Picnic
Piping the Piggies
Prattlers and Cracklers
Pride and Humility
Quiet!
The Sermon - A Raven Addressing a Gaggle of Geese
A Siesta (1906)
A Snap for the Lot
A Spaniel Puppy
Stable Companions
Street Acrobats (1874, the junction of Regent and Conduit Streets)
A Stump Oration (a crow lecturing 2 donkeys and geese near a pond)
Suspicion (ca 1900, a soldier chased by geese through a hamlet)
A Sweet Thing: Pigs in Bonnets
Taunting the Geese (ca. 1890)
Teaching the Puppy New Tricks
A Terrier
A Territorial Dispute
This Comes Hopping You Are Well (1867)
A Tug o War
Trespassers
Two of His Flock (1870s)
Two Donkeys and a Carrion Crow (original title unknown)
The Unruly Mob
The Unruly Neighbors
Unwelcome Guest
An Unusual Visitor
An Urban Council
A Visitor
Waiting Is a Virtue
Washer Woman and Two Dandies (original title unknown)
A Watchful Eye
A Wee Bit Frightened
Where Are They
Which Way To Market?
Which Way to Cork
You Are Sitting in My Nest
References
"IGI Individual Record: Herbert Weekes". FamilySearch.org. 14 Oct 1865. Retrieved 29 Jan 2009.
"The Little Calf, Henry Weekes, Jnr., fl: 1850–1884". J. Collins & Son Fine Art. Retrieved 28 Jan 2009.
"Quiet!, Herbert William Weekes fl: 1864–1904". J. Collins & Son Fine Art. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
"Weekes, Henry (English sculptor and teacher, 1807–1877)". Getty Museum. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
"Artist Biography: William Weekes fl. 1864–1904". Burlington Paintings. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
"Autumn Exhibition: Frederick Weekes (1833–1920)". Michael Sim. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
"Two of His Flock". Invaluable.com. Retrieved 29 Jan 2009.
"FamilySearch International Genealogical Index". FamilySearch.org. 1881. Retrieved 29 Jan 2009.
"England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VB68-RKR : 24 July 2015), Caroline Weekes in entry for William Weeks, 1871.
"Herbert William Weekes Biography". Haynes Fine Art of Broadway. Archived from the original on 2008-02-16. Retrieved 28 Jan 2009.
"Herbert William Weekes". Artnet. Retrieved 28 Jan 2009.
"Suspicion". Cinoa. Retrieved 13 Jul 2009.
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