Miss Ivy Lilian Close
Hacker entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1876 where his fellow pupils included Stanhope Forbes (1857-1947) and Henry La Thangue (1859-1929). He went on to study in Paris, where an emphasis on plein-air realism influenced much of his early genre subjects. Throughout his career, Hackerâs interests shifted from depicting genre scenes, to religious and imaginative subjects, and townscapes. Nevertheless, Hacker remained a popular society portrait painter. This particular example was painted a year before Hackerâs style underwent radical changes, abandoning this smooth, fluid finish in favour of a much thicker, painterly style. Hacker was one of the former Academicians who founded the New English Art Club in 1886.