Arthur Hacker Biography

Arthur Hacker RA (1858-1919) was an English classical painter.

Hacker was the son of Edward Hacker (1812-1905), a line engraver specialising in animal and sporting prints (who was also for many years the registrar of Births and Deaths for the Kentish Town sub-district of Pancras Registration District, Middlesex).

In his art, Hacker was most known for painting religious scenes and portraits, and his extensive travels in Spain and North Africa also influenced his art. He studied at the Royal Academy between 1876 and 1880, and at the Atelier Bonnat in Paris. He was twice exhibited at the Royal Academy, in 1878 and 1910, and was elected an Academician in 1910. In 1894, he was the subject of a bust by Edward Onslow Ford. An original portrait by Hacker of Sir Alfred Keogh hangs in the RAMC HQ Mess at Millbank, London.

In 1902, Hacker built a new house at Heath End, Checkendon, Oxfordshire, called Hall Ingle, commissioning the young architect Maxwell Ayrton and carrying out the decorations himself.

Paintings on public display include The Annunciation at Tate Britain, Pelagia and Philammon in Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery, The Children's Prayer (1888), The Atkinson Museum, Southport, and The Temptation of Sir Percival in Leeds City Art Gallery.

Hacker is buried in Brookwood Cemetery.