Sydney Prior Hall MVO, MA (18 October 1842 – 15 December 1922) was a British

portrait painter Portrait Painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and pr ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

and one of the leading ''

reportage Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

'' artists of the later

Victorian period In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...

. The son of animal portraitist Harry Hall, Sydney Hall was educated at Merchant Taylors' School. He decided on a career as an artist while at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and joined the staff of ''

The Graphic ''The Graphic'' was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Ltd. Thomas's brother Lewis Samuel Thomas was a co-founder. The premature death of the latt ...

'', an illustrated newspaper, shortly after its foundation in late 1869. He immediately established his name with a series of vivid drawings made at the

front Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * ''The Front'', 1976 film Music * The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...

during the Franco-Prussian War.Sydney Prior Hall (1842-1922), Portrait painter and illustrator
at www.npg.org.uk As stated in the contemporary publication ''

The Art Journal ''The Art Journal'' was the most important British 19th-century magazine on art. It was founded in 1839 by Hodgson & Graves, print publishers, 6 Pall Mall, with the title ''Art Union Monthly Journal'' (or ''The Art Union''), the first issue of 7 ...

'', his drawings of the

Parnell Commission The Parnell Commission, officially Special Commission on Parnellism and Crime, was a judicial inquiry in the late 1880s into allegations of crimes by Irish parliamentarian Charles Stewart Parnell which resulted in his vindication. Background On ...

were among his finest achievements in the medium of graphic journalism: "he was in court the whole time, busy with a swift revealing pencil which missed no turn of affairs." He illustrated a number of books including ''

Tom Brown's School Days ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is an 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes. The stor ...

'' (MacMillan, 1885), and ''

Tom Brown at Oxford ''Tom Brown at Oxford'' is a novel by Thomas Hughes, first published in serial form in Macmillan's Magazine in 1859. It was published in two volumes in book form in 1861. It is a sequel to the better-known ''Tom Brown's School Days''. T ...

'' by

Thomas Hughes Thomas Hughes (20 October 182222 March 1896) was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. ...

. Hall married Emma Holland (1846/7–1894), in 1877; the couple had already produced a son, Henry R. H. Hall (1873-1930), who became assistant keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. Following the death of his first wife, Hall married the painter

Mary Gow Mary Lightbody Gow (25 December 1851 – 27 May 1929) was an English watercolour painter. Biography Gow was the daughter of James Gow ( fl. 1852–85), who painted genre and historical subjects, and the sister of the artist Andrew Carr ...

(1851-1929), in 1907. Hall died at his home in London on 15 December 1922.Pottle, ''ODNB''.

Gallery

File:Leopard-baiting.jpg, Escaped Leopard Battles with Dogs at

Raglan Castle Raglan Castle ( cy, Castell Rhaglan) is a late medieval castle located just north of the village of Raglan in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales. The modern castle dates from between the 15th and early 17th centuries, when the succ ...

, circa 1875, by Sydney P. Hall File:CollapseOfTemple.jpg, Painting depicting

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

Frederick Temple Frederick Temple (30 November 1821 – 23 December 1902) was an English academic, teacher and churchman, who served as Bishop of Exeter (1869–1885), Bishop of London (1885–1896) and Archbishop of Canterbury (1896–1902). Early life T ...

's collapse in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

while delivering a speech on the Education Bill, on 2 December 1902. File:The three daughters of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra by Sydney Prior Hall.jpg, ''The three daughters of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra'', 1883 File:Joseph ('Joe') Chamberlain; Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour by Sydney Prior Hall.jpg, Joseph Chamberlain and Arthur Balfour, 1895 File:Group including Charles Stewart Parnell and H. Campbell by Sydney Prior Hall.jpg, A sketch from the Parnell Commission, 1889 File:Thomas Miller Beach, John Patrick Murphy, Sir Henry James and Sir Charles Russell by Sydney Prior Hall.jpg, A sketch from the Parnell Commission, 1889

References

External links

''Sketches from an Artist's Portfolio''
Sydney P. Hall, 1875.
Four paintings by Sir Sydney Hall
in the

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

Some sketches by Sir Sydney Hall
(part of a collection of 146 held by the

National Portrait Gallery (London) The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

which were donated in 1929 by the artist's son, Harry Reginald Holland Hall)
Drawings of Canada in 1881 by Sydney Hall
(Hall was a member of the press party which accompanied the

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

, Sir John Douglas Campbell, on a much-publicised tour to promote the agricultural potential of western Canada).
Portrait of the three daughters of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra by Sydney Prior Hall
(oil on canvas, 1883, National Portrait Gallery, London)
Pencil drawing of William Ewart Gladstone by Sydney Prior Hall
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Sydney Prior 1842 births 1922 deaths 19th-century British painters British male painters 20th-century British painters British draughtsmen British illustrators British children's book illustrators 19th-century war artists People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood British war artists 19th-century British male artists 20th-century British male artists