John Young-Hunter (1874-1955) Biography

Young-Hunter is known for his lavish society portraits of wealthy Brits and Americans, and for his Native American portraits and genre scenes of the Southwest.

John Young-Hunter was born in Glasgow, Scotland to marine painter, Colin Hunter, and pianist, Isabella Young. He attended Clifton College and the University of London. At the School of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, he studied under John Singer Sargent, a close family friend. Lawrence Alma-Tadema was another friend of his parents, and much of Young-Hunter's early work is strongly influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites. His wife, Mary, whom he met through his studies, also worked in the style. Young-Hunter exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1900 to 1913 where his paintings received highly favorable reviews. His work also was shown at the Tate Gallery and the Luxembourg Museum in Paris.

Young-Hunter grew up with wealth and privilege among London's cultural elites who became the subjects of his paintings.

Young-Hunter had been fascinated with American Indians since attending Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show as a youth in London. In 1912 he met famed western painter Charles M. Russell, and the next year Young-Hunter left for the United States, visiting the Crow Indian Reservation. On a subsequent trip, he was guest of Charles and Nancy Russell who took him camping in Glacier.