Updated November 2026 · ranked by our popularity score (searches, visits and orders for each work) · 249 works by Hubert von Herkomer in our catalogue
In short
To the gallery's eye, Hubert von Herkomer's most famous painting is The Last Muster. A Bacchante (1897) and H. H. Richardson (1886) complete the trio every eye recognises. Of the 249 works by Hubert von Herkomer in our catalog, the gallery presents the 100 most famous below, each original with its year, its museum and what makes it unique.
In 1875, Sir Hubert von Herkomer captures a heavy, silent moment within the wood-panelled chapel of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. The painting, titled The Last Muster, brings us into the midst of a Sunday service attended by Chelsea pensioners. These veterans, dressed in their distinctive scarlet coats, sit in rows as the ritual of the service unfolds around them. The air feels thick with the weight of memory and the…
There is a quiet, almost secretive quality to this miniature portrait. It presents a woman, likely a Bacchante, captured in a circular format that feels like looking through a small, polished window. Her dark, wavy hair is entwined with a green laurel wreath, a detail that offers a sharp contrast against the soft, dusty rose of the background. She does not meet our gaze directly; instead, her heavy-lidded eyes look…
The portrait presents a mature, authoritative figure seated in a three-quarter length composition. A strong light source from the upper left illuminates the subject's face and hand, casting the remainder of the scene into deep, somber shadow. This chiaroscuro effect creates a profound sense of three-dimensionality, emphasizing the weight of the man's presence. His expression remains calm and steady, suggesting a life of significant intellect or influence. The color palette…
The gaze of Sir George Dashwood Taubman Goldie meets the viewer from across the decades, captured in this 1898 oil on canvas. Sir Hubert von Herkomer renders the man with a sense of quiet authority, freezing a moment of dignified presence. The subject, a Manx administrator, carries the weight of his history within his steady expression. His life remains tied to the foundational chapters of Nigeria, a legacy etched into…
Hubert von Herkomer rendered this formal portrait of Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria around 1895. The work captures the Bavarian royal in a three-quarter length composition, presenting the subject with a steady, direct gaze. Through a disciplined application of academic realism, the artist emphasizes the dignity and authority inherent in the Prince Regent's station.
Hackling Flax is a realistic oil painting created by the artist Hubert von Herkomer. The work dates to 1881. It depicts a scene of manual labor involving three figures engaged in the process of hackling flax. The composition focuses on the physical actions of the subjects as they work against a rustic wooden backdrop.
In Dudley Williams, Hubert von Herkomer presents a bust-length portrait of an elderly man. The subject sits centrally, anchored against a dark and indeterminate background that offers no sense of place or time. This void pushes the figure forward, making the man the sole focus of the composition. His expression is composed, serious, and contemplative, a quiet stillness that meets the viewer at eye-level. He carries the weight of his…
In "Farm workers tilling and sowing a hillside." by Hubert von Herkomer, we find a scene of rural toil captured from a slightly low angle. This perspective looks up the incline, emphasizing the physical exertion required by the laborers. The composition is dynamic, with the figures distributed across a diagonal plane that follows the slope of the hill. Lines guide the eye upward along this incline and through the specific…
This oil portrait depicts Professor Henry Fawcett. The work was executed by the artist Hubert von Herkomer in 1886. The subject is presented in a three-quarter length view, seated within an ornate wooden chair. The figure is positioned against a dark, indistinct background that lacks specific architectural or environmental detail.
In this 1891 oil painting, we find ourselves in a quiet, shadowed space, witnessing a moment of profound spiritual intensity. The subject is an elderly man, a rabbi, caught in the midst of deep prayer. He is positioned slightly off-center, his body angled upward as if reaching for something unseen in the light above. The composition is vertical, drawing our eyes immediately to the weathered texture of his skin and…
Walter Hayes Burns of North Mymms (1838 - 1897)1895 · Antony House
12
Gordon McKay (1821-1903)1895 · Harvard Art Museums
13
The Future Chained to the Automobile1905
14
The old gardener
15
Mr Alexander Macdonald
16
Francis Burnand
17
Reverend Robert Charsley
18
Charles Maciver
19
Professor John Obediah Westwood
20
The offertory
21
Clement Royds
22
Portrait of Sir Carl Meyer
23
General Francis Locker Whitmore
24
Charles Coates
25
Portrait Of Frederick H. Norman
26
John Pender
27
Francis Henry Jeune, Lord St Helier
28
Joseph Joachim
29
James Grierson
30
Head Of A Bearded Man
31
Study Of Alexander Macdonald
32
Mrs Edwin Tate
33
John Couch Adams -
34
The Last Of The Autumn Tints
35
Portrait of the Artist's Son Lorenz
36
Brownlow Wynne WynneNational Library of Wales
37
The Very Revd Henry George Lidell
38
Portrait Of Robert Lewis, Seated, Three-quarter Length
39
Samuel And Henrietta Barnett
40
Fanny Elizabeth Benjamin
41
Charles Rube
42
Professor John Obadiah Westwood
43
Edward White Benson
44
A. R. Courtney
45
The Daughters of Baron von Erlanger
46
Richard Horner Paget
47
Portrait Of Lady Tate
48
Hermann David Weber
49
Portrait Of Henry Stacy Marks
50
Alfred Angus Nield, Chairman Of The Council Of Owen Colleg
51
George Stokes
52
Study Of Sir Henry Wentworth Acland
53
A Lady Arranging Flowers
54
Dinah Maria CraikNational Portrait Gallery
55
George GreyNational Portrait Gallery
56
Portrait Of A Man
57
Captain Philip Blundell Bicknell
58
Young Farmers Breaking Flax1885 · Grohmann Museum
59
Reverend Henry George
60
In The Garden
61
Henry F. Pelham
62
Tess Harassed By Alec D'urberville
63
Found
64
George Nathaniel Curzon -
65
Edward Gordon Douglas-pennant
66
The Storm Cloud
67
Archibald Forbes
68
William Markby
69
David Gamble
70
Matrimonial News
71
Farmyard
72
Margaret
73
Thomas J. Lipton
74
The Right Honourable Viscount Morley Of Blackburn
75
Henry George Liddell
76
William Cadge
77
Katharine Jex-blake
78
George Frederick Samuel Robinson
79
Marcus Samuel
80
Portrait Of A Bearded Man
81
John Tomlinson BrunnerGreys Court
82
Albert Kaye Rollit
83
The Dying Monarch 'fungersee'
84
The Afterglow
85
Frederick Temple
86
William Stubbs
87
Program For Banquet, 'die Zukunft '
88
The Triumph Of The Hour
89
Back to Life
90
Thomas Lauder Brunton
91
The Trysting Place
92
Michael Foster
93
In My Fields
94
Francis John Tillstone, Town Clerk
95
Edward George JenkinsonBirmingham Museum and Art Gallery
96
Major-general Sotheby
97
Baron Fisher Of Kilverstone
98
The Foster Mother
99
Ernest George
100
Cumberland Fell
The four subjects that come back most often in these originals, each with its finest example.
The 8 museums that hold the most of the paintings on this page.
| Museum | City | Works by Hubert von Herkomer | Paintings from this list |
|---|---|---|---|
 National Portrait Gallery |
London | 11 | Sir George Dashwood Taubman Goldie, Dinah Maria Craik, George Grey |
 Yale Center for British Art |
New Haven | 4 | A Bacchante, Hackling Flax |
 National Portrait Gallery |
Washington, D.C. | 1 | H. H. Richardson |
 Bavarian State Painting Collections |
Munich | 1 | Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria |
 Museum of Fine Arts |
Boston | 1 | Dudley Williams |
 Fitzwilliam Museum |
1 | Professor Henry Fawcett | |
 Antony House |
1 | Walter Hayes Burns of North Mymms (1838 - 1897) | |
 Harvard Art Museums |
Cambridge | 1 | Gordon McKay (1821-1903) |
Pick a decade to see the original that defines it.
The portrait presents a mature, authoritative figure seated in a three-quarter length composition. A strong light source from the upper left illuminates the subject's face and hand, casting the remainder of the scene into deep, somber shadow. This chiaroscuro effect creates a profound sense of three-dimensionality, emphasizing the weight of the man's presence. His expression remains calm and steady, suggesting a life of significant intellect or influence. The color palette…
There is a quiet, almost secretive quality to this miniature portrait. It presents a woman, likely a Bacchante, captured in a circular format that feels like looking through a small, polished window. Her dark, wavy hair is entwined with a green laurel wreath, a detail that offers a sharp contrast against the soft, dusty rose of the background. She does not meet our gaze directly; instead, her heavy-lidded eyes look…
In Hubert von Herkomer's The Future Chained to the Automobile, the composition centers upon a semi-nude female figure, an embodiment of the future. She is draped in white fabric that flows downward, partially obscuring the front of an early 20th-century automobile. The perspective is a close-up, slightly low-angle view, which lends an imposing quality to both the figure and the machine. The car's headlights and mechanical components function as a…
The Last Muster. A Bacchante (1897) and H. H. Richardson (1886) come next.
The Last Muster, A Bacchante, H. H. Richardson, Sir George Dashwood Taubman Goldie, Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria, Hackling Flax, Dudley Williams, Farm workers tilling and sowing a hillside., Professor Henry Fawcett and A Rabbi at prayer. The ranking above gives each one's year and museum.
Our catalog holds 249 works by Hubert von Herkomer, dated from 1881 to 1905.
Mostly in National Portrait Gallery (London), Yale Center for British Art (New Haven) and National Portrait Gallery (Washington, D.C.). The museum table above lists them all.
In 1880s: 6 of the 100 works on this page were made then, H. H. Richardson among them.
On this page, the earliest is Hackling Flax (1881) and the latest The Future Chained to the Automobile (1905).
Victorian era (23), Elderly man (18) and Portrait (18), across the 100 works on this page.
Oil On Canvas, for 8 of the 100 works on this page.
Contemporary realism and Realism, judging by the originals on this page.
Sir George Dashwood Taubman Goldie, Dinah Maria Craik and George Grey: the National Portrait Gallery, London holds 3 of the works on this page.
