'When the leaves begin to turn'

This early Pre-Raphaelite landscape dates from the formative years of Hunt's career, when he was championed by Ruskin. Born in Liverpool, the son of a painter, he graduated from Corpus Christi, Oxford, in 1852. He met Ruskin, a fellow winner of the Newdigate Prize for English verse, through a shared passion for Turner; and it was probably Ruskin who encouraged Hunt to abandon an academic career and pursue his ideals of fidelity to nature in Art. Having been elected an Associate of the Liverpool Academy in 1854, Hunt exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1854 and 1857. His first patron was James Wyatt, a print-dealer and Mayor of Oxford, whose portrait by Millais has recently been seen at the Academy in the collection of Lord Lloyd Webber. Hunt's output was limited, but is characterised by intense observation and attention to detail. In later years he worked mainly in watercolour, and it is rare to find such an early oil preserved in its original frame in remarkable condition.