A. R. Courtney

Sir Hubert von Herkomer was a Bavarian-born British painter, pioneering film-director, and composer. Though a very successful portrait artist, especially of men, he is mainly remembered for his earlier works that took a realistic approach to the conditions of life of the poor. Hard Times showing the distraught family of a travelling day-labourer at the side of a road, is one of his best-known works.