Explore: Sir Hubert von Herkomer

(1849 - 1914)

Hubert von Herkomer was born in Waal, Bavaria. In 1857, his family settled in Southampton, England. He later studied at the Department of Science and Art, South Kensington, where he took up illustration. In 1875, he exhibited ‘The Last Muster: Sunday in the Royal Hospital, Chelsea’ at the Royal Academy, to great acclaim. From 1873, he lived with his parents in the village of Bushey, Hertfordshire, later commissioning American architect Henry Hobson Richardson to design ‘Lululaund’, a castle-like residence in Bushey. Herkomer also founded an Art School in Bushey and succeeded Ruskin as Slade Professor of Art at Oxford University from 1885. In 1907, he was knighted. He died at the age of 64 during a trip to Devon.