Object Description
Watercolour.
The scene is outside the Big Top at Hayes Circus. There is remarkable detailing of the tents, screens and painted back drops which suggest the picture is a record of an actual event. Sotheby’s attributed it many years ago to the artist George Goodwin Kilburn but this was disputed . Subsequent research has confirmed the attribution to Alfred Hunt, the illustrator, who worked for magazines such as “The Graphic’ and “The Illustrated London News”. He was renowned for his ability to depict massed crowds. He should not be confused with the Pre-Raphaelite landscape painter Alfred William Hunt.