# Edward Atkinson Hornel artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/edward-atkinson-hornel/
Profile generated: 2026-05-23T03:47:17.759Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1864-07-11
- Death date: 1933-06-30
- Nationality: Scottish
- Movements: Glasgow Boys
- Common media: oil painting

## About Edward Atkinson Hornel

Edward Atkinson Hornel (1864–1933) was a Scottish painter best known for richly decorative landscapes filled with flowers, foliage, and children at play. Born in Australia to Scottish parents, he moved to Kirkcudbright in southwest Scotland as an infant and later made the town his lifelong base. He trained in the early 1880s and became a core member of the Glasgow Boys, the influential group that modernized Scottish painting in the late nineteenth century. A pivotal moment came in 1893–94, when Hornel and his close collaborator George Henry spent over a year traveling through Japan. The trip transformed his palette and composition, introducing flat, patterned surfaces and eastern motifs that critics labeled the 'Persian Carpet School.' Works by Hornel are held by major institutions including Tate, London, and his output is extensively documented in the RKD Netherlands Institute records.

## Common works and media

Hornel predominantly worked in oil on canvas. His most recognizable subjects are garden and woodland scenes populated by children surrounded by dense flowers and foliage, rendered in a high-key, heavily textured decorative style. He also produced Japanese-influenced figure compositions after his 1893–94 travels, landscape views of the Kirkcudbright countryside, and occasional still-life and figurative works. Prints or reproductions are not a significant part of his documented output; the auction market is dominated by original paintings.

## Market and appraisal context

Hornel's work appears regularly at auction under 19th-century British and Scottish painting categories. His association with the Glasgow Boys and the distinctive Japanese-influenced phase following his 1893–94 travels with George Henry tend to attract the strongest collector interest. Common valuation factors include the painting's period (pre- or post-Japan), subject matter, size, condition, exhibition history, and any documented provenance linking the work to the Kirkcudbright circle. With over 300 recorded auction appearances, the market for Hornel is active and reasonably liquid, though no catalogue raisonné was identified in available sources, so attribution should be verified through established scholarship.

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines identity research from Getty ULAN, VIAF, RKD, and Tate with 306 auction lot records from the Invaluable database. Appraisal guidance reflects publicly documented auction categories, provenance patterns, and medium/subject conventions; it does not constitute a formal valuation.

## Sources

- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/39777
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/edward-atkinson-hornel-1309
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/22985477/
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500002511
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q947417
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Atkinson_Hornel
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr93000574