A Portrait of Fisherman and his Trainer with a View of Middleham Castle beyond

Oil on canvas, signed

22 x 29½ inches
57 x 75 cms

This first class draughtsman of hunters and thoroughbreds occasionally produced portraits and shooting scenes. However, Harry Hall is best remembered for his formal portraiture of racehorses, often depicted with a trainer nearby and interesting architectural details in the distance. He became the major racehorse portraitist of his time and painted in a style similar to that of J. F. Herring Snr., the leading racehorse portraitist prior to Hall.

Harry Hall was born in Cambridge. His first recorded working address was at Tattersall’s in London. His earliest artwork was for Tattersall’s British Racehorses and The Sporting Review. For a while, he served as the chief artist for The Field. He was extremely industrious and much of his work was engraved. The Sporting Magazine published 114 of his plates.

Hall soon took up permanent residence in Newmarket so as to be at the centre of the racing scene. Similar to a present-day photographer, he was employed to capture the likenesses of racehorses on oil and canvas. This he did with great exactitude so that his work is not only of artistic value, but also of value to historians of the Turf. His racehorses are often depicted as having slightly smaller heads and more muscular hindquarters, as was the fashion of the time.

Hall exhibited 11 paintings at the Royal Academy between 1838 and 1864. A further 44 paintings were exhibited at places such as the British Institute and Suffolk Street. Titles include ‘Shooting Companions, ‘ Thoroughbreds’ and ‘Favourite Hunters.’

Harry Hall died on 22nd April at home on Newmarket High Street. His son, Sydney Prior Hall (1842 –1920), who was also an artist of great ability and exhibited several non-sporting paintings at the Royal Academy, succeeded him.

The racehorse in this painting has been identified as Fisherman, out of Heron by Mainbrace, bred by Mr W. Halfourd and sold to Mr Tom Parr of Benham, Berkshire in July 1855. Here he is shown as Winner of the Queen''s Vase at Ascot in 1856.