ARTHUR HUGHES (BRITISH, 1830-1915)

Charles Rowley (1839-1933) was a Manchester picture framer, socialist and city councillor, and a great friend of Ford Madox Brown (1821-1893), who drew a portrait of him now in Manchester Art Gallery (1936.116). Rowley greatly admired the socialist ideas of William Morris, and became acquainted with the wider Pre-Raphaelite circle, conducting a lively correspondence with Walter Crane, among others. The delicate, ephemeral use of sanguine chalk here is typical of Hughes' drawing technique. He often gave drawings to friends, and it is possible that the sitter is related to Rowley.