Sir Sydney Prior Hall MVO, MA

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 (18 October 1842 – 1922) was a British portrait painter

Portrait painting

Portrait painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to depict the visual appearance of the subject. Beside human beings, animals, pets and even inanimate objects can be chosen as the subject for a portrait...

 and illustrator

Illustrator

An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

 and one of the leading reportage artists of the later Victorian period

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

.

The son of animal portraitist Harry Hall

Harry Hall (painter)

Harry Hall was an English equestrian painter, whose works were in demand by horse owners. His output was prolific and he was the foremost racehorse portraitist of his time: his style has been described as being "strikingly modern... when compared with many of his contemporaries"...

, Sydney Hall was educated at Merchant Taylors' School

Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood

Merchant Taylors' School is a British independent day school for boys, originally located in the City of London. Since 1933 it has been located at Sandy Lodge in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire ....

. He decided on a career as an artist while at Oxford University

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 and joined the staff of The Graphic

The Graphic

The Graphic was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Limited....

, 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 (military)

A military front or battlefront is a contested armed frontier between opposing forces. This can be a local or tactical front, or it can range to a theater...

 during the Franco-Prussian War

Franco-Prussian War

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...

.

As stated in the contemporary publication The Art Journal

The Art Journal

The Art Journal, published in London, was the most important Victorian magazine on art. It was founded in 1839 by Hodgson & Graves, print publishers, 6 Pall Mall, with the title the Art Union Monthly Journal, the first issue of 750 copies appearing 15 February 1839.Hodgson & Graves hired Samuel...

, his drawings of the Parnell Commission

Parnell Commission

The Parnell Commission was a judicial inquiry in the late 1880s into allegations of crimes by Irish parliamentarian Charles Stewart Parnell which resulted in his vindication.-Background:...

 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 at Oxford

Tom Brown at Oxford

Tom Brown at Oxford is a novel by Thomas Hughes, first published in 1861. It is a sequel to the better-known Tom Brown's Schooldays...

by Thomas Hughes

Thomas Hughes

Thomas Hughes was an English lawyer and author. He is most famous for his novel Tom Brown's Schooldays , a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. It had a lesser-known sequel, Tom Brown at Oxford .- Biography :Hughes was the second son of John Hughes, editor of...

.

Hall married Hannah Holland, and was the father of Egyptologist Henry R. H. Hall

Henry Hall (Egyptologist)

Dr Henry Reginald Holland Hall MBE, FBA, FSA was an English Egyptologist and historian. In life, he was normally referred to as Harry Reginald Hall.-Early life:...

.

External links

• Four paintings by Sir Sydney Hall in the Royal Collection
  Royal Collection
  The Royal Collection is the art collection of the British Royal Family. It is property of the monarch as sovereign, but is held in trust for her successors and the nation. It contains over 7,000 paintings, 40,000 watercolours and drawings, and about 150,000 old master prints, as well as historical...
  
   of Queen Elizabeth II
  Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
  Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
  
  
• Some sketches by Sir Sydney Hall (part of a collection of 146 held by the National Portrait Gallery (London) 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
  Governor General of Canada
  The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
  
  , Sir John Douglas Campbell
  John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll
  John George Edward Henry Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll KG, KT, GCMG, GCVO, VD, PC , usually better known by the courtesy title Marquess of Lorne, by which he was known between 1847 and 1900, was a British nobleman and was the fourth Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883...
  
  , 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