SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
Born in Esslingen in 1849, Louis Welden Hawkins was a British painter who became a naturalised French citizen in 1895. According to the sources, his female figures are distinguished by a pensive gravity and are associated with the Pre-Raphaelite tradition. Although a military career had been envisaged for him, Hawkins left for France in 1873, breaking with his family.
In Paris, he studied at the Académie Julian from 1873 to 1876 under William Bouguereau, Jules Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger, then attended the École des Beaux-Arts in 1876. In 1878, he exhibited a portrait of Sarah Bernhardt on porcelain at the Salon, where he went on to present works from 1880 to 1891. He also took part in the Salon of the Société nationale des beaux-arts, of which he became a member, the Salon de la Rose-Croix in 1894 and 1895, and the Libre Esthétique in Brussels.
Among the works cited are Les Orphelins, an 1881 oil on canvas; Portrait de Séverine, dated around 1895; L’Innocence, also dated around 1895; and Le Sphinx et la Chimère, a 1906 oil on canvas. Le Foyer is listed among the collections of the musée d’Arts de Nantes, while L’Innocence is held at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. In his later years, Hawkins painted landscapes in Brittany, particularly around Perros-Guirec.
In 1899, he published La Reine du jardin for young readers and illustrated it himself. From 1892 to 1897, he published writings in the Mercure de France under the pseudonym “Quazi”.
This profile brings together identity references for Louis Welden Hawkins and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
DognyAuction · Genève Enchères · Piguet
References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales. Attributed works and special lots are excluded from the priced results.
Watercolour
Louis Welden Hawkins (1849-1910) Portrait de la femme de l’artiste à la couronne de fleurs
aquarelle
Catalogue period : 2025-12-10
Published result : 2400 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 1000–1500
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
Femme pensive
huile sur toile
Date to be documented
Published result : 11000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Watercolour
Paysanne au bord du chemin, printemps
aquarelle
Catalogue period : 2014-12-08
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 100–150
View the lot at the auction house ↗Watercolour
Paysanne au bord du chemin, printemps
aquarelle
Catalogue period : 2015-03-09
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 100–150
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Profile updated :
Recently enriched profiles
The Greek painter Yánnis Spyrópoulos, born in 1912 and deceased in 1990, developed his painting from naturalism towards abstraction, before shifting his interest to the image itself…
2 auction referencesBorn in Saint-Jean, Newfoundland, in 1898, Robert Wakeham Pilot made the territory of Quebec a favourite subject: his landscapes are set in places including the Laurentians, the Baie…
1 auction referenceLéopold Gottlieb began his training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, where he studied painting from 1896 to 1902 under Jacek Malczewski and Théodor Axentowicz. At the end of th…
1 auction reference