TheFamousArtists

Parker, Henry H.

He is one of the few Victorian-era English painters who never participated in the exhibitions in London. He didn't have to. His work was so popular that he was under contract with several dealers, a practice generally frowned upon which was why he signed his works using multiple variations of his name to avoid discovery.

His real name is Henry Hillingford Parker but he also signed his pieces with the names H.D. Hillier, H.D. Hillyer or simply Hillyer. He was born in London in 1858, died in and lived there for most of his life. He studied art at the St. Martins School of Art which had been established on 4 years before his birth. He also studied at one of the Royal Academy schools and many art scholars believe his work was influenced by Benjamin Williams Leader (1831-1923).

He worked as an illustrator at the Illustrated London News but for most of his career he worked for private galleries. Perhaps as young as 23, Parker was already known for his beautiful landscape paintings. His paintings remain quite popular and typically portray the beauty of the English countryside.

A number of his paintings show the growing influence of Impressionism with brighter colors and bold splashes of color replacing fine details. Many of his paintings include the Thames or feature the landscape in and around Kent, Surrey and Wales. Parker's landscapes have a quiet and gentle quality and are considered “pure” landscapes. They are often featured cloudy skies but the overall impression is one of a bright, sunny day.

Harvesting on the Sussex Coast

A beautiful day on the Sussex coast captured forever by the famous English landscape painter Henry H. Parker (1858-1930). Women work together to harvest a hay field and stack bundles of hay into piles. The remains of their lunch and…
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Dunkheld & Birnam from Craigibarns

Wonderful oil on canvas landscape painting by the English artists Henry H. Parker (1858-1930). Off in the distance, the Bridge at Dunkeld crosses the Tay River. It was built at a time where the Scottish engineer thought the heaviest load…
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By The Mill

Lovely landscape painting of an old mill along a river. The bucolic scene of the English countryside includes small flock of ducks, a horse and rider at the river’s edge and several groups of cattle in the far pastures. Like…
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Cattle Watering on a Riverbank

Henry H. Parker (1858-1930) is a well-known English landscape painter who apparently painted a number of pictures of cattle watering near riverbanks. In researching this particular painting, it became clear that Parker liked painting waterways with cows at their edge….
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