Mary Young Hunter or Young-Hunter (1872 – 1947) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

painter. Her works were included in the book '' Women Painters of the World''.

Early life

Hunter was born Mary Towgood, on April 11, 1872, in

Napier, New Zealand Napier ( ; mi, Ahuriri) is a city on the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Hawke's Bay Region, Hawke's Bay region. It is a beachside city with a Napier Port, seaport, known for its sunny climate, esplanade lin ...

. She was the daughter of Edward Towgood (1838-1882) and Edith Emma Tyler (1849-1919). At the age of nine, she left New Zealand on a sailing ship and came to England where she lived until she went to school in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

, Switzerland. She married John Young-Hunter on November 18, 1899, in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, England. He was a well-known English Painter. She had a daughter, Gabrielle Young-Hunter, who married

Edward G. Kuster Edward Gerhard Kuster (August 15, 1878 – September 1961) was a musician and attorney from Los Angeles for twenty-one years before coming to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California in 1921. He became involved in theater and establish his own theatre and s ...

in Germany in 1928.

Career

In 1889, she and her husband traveled to Italy, where they lived in a studio in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. She painted in Perugia, Assisi, and Siena. Both she and her husband were involved in the new

Pre-Raphaelitism The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

group of painters. In 1920, she learned the technique of Gesso painting, a paint mixture used by early Italian artists. She studied art at the

Royal Academy Schools The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

in England, where she won four medals. She exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1900, where she showed the paintings ''The Ducke's High Dame'' and ''The Denial.'' She was a lifelong friend of Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, the fourth daughter of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. Mary Hunter painted the son of Sir Arthur McKenzie, the daughters of Lord and Lady Londonderry, the son of Lord and Lady Castlereagh, Mary and Catherine Pillsbury, Henry McKnight, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.

Amos Pinchot Amos Richards Eno Pinchot (December 6, 1873 – February 18, 1944) was an American lawyer and reformist. He never held public office but managed to exert considerable influence in reformist circles and did much to keep Progressivism, progres ...

, the daughters of

Jean Webster Jean Webster was the pen name of Alice Jane Chandler Webster (July 24, 1876 – June 11, 1916), an American author whose books include '' Daddy-Long-Legs'' and '' Dear Enemy''. Her best-known books feature lively and likeable young female prota ...

and Blanchette Hooker (now Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, III). She also painted American diplomat

Sumner Welles Benjamin Sumner Welles (October 14, 1892September 24, 1961) was an American government official and diplomat in the Foreign Service. He was a major foreign policy adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served as Under Secretary of State ...

as the age of three. One of last works was an unfinished portrait of her granddaughter Marcia Kuster. She came to

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and ric ...

with her daughter Gabrielle in 1924. She was the owner of a Tudor Storybook style house, now called the Mary Young-Hunter House. It is on the northeast corner of Torres Street and Ocean Avenue, designed and built by Hugh Comstock in 1927. She later moved to Carmel Valley.

Works

Hunter's works were included in the book '' Women Painters of the World''.Women Painters of the World
on Project Gutenberg . * ''Joy and the Labourer'' * ''Olivia'' * ''Where Shall Wisdom be Found?''

Death

Hunter died on September 8, 1947, in

, at the age of 75. Services were held at the El Carmelo Cemetery in Pacific Grove.

Gallery

File:Mary Young Hunter - Joy and the Labourer.jpg, ''Joy and the Labourer'' File:Mary Young Hunter - Olivia.jpg, ''Olivia'' File:Mary Young Hunter - Where Shall Wisdon be Found.jpg, ''Where Shall Wisdom be Found?''

References

External links

Mary Young HunterHunter, Mary Yount
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Mary Young 1872 births 1947 deaths People from Napier, New Zealand New Zealand women painters 19th-century New Zealand painters 20th-century New Zealand painters 19th-century New Zealand women artists 20th-century New Zealand women artists New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom 20th-century women painters 19th-century women painters