James Clarke Hook RA (21 November 1819 – 14 April 1907) was an English painter and etcher of marine, genre and historical scenes, and landscapes.

[2] In 1844 the academy showed his "Pamphilius relating his Story" (inspired by the Decameron), which consisted of a meadow scene in bright light, with sumptuous women, richly clad, reclining on the grass.

[1] In 1844 and 1845 the British Institution exhibited two of Hook's paintings – subjects taken from Shakespeare and Burns, which, with the above, showed him able to handle themes of romantic sentiment and the picturesque which were then in vogue, but in an original and vigorous manner.

"[1] A travelling studentship in painting was awarded to Hook for Rizpah watching the dead sons of Saul in 1846, and he went to Italy for three years, having married fellow artist, Rosalie Burton, before leaving England.

Hook passed through Paris, worked diligently for some time in the Louvre, traversed Switzerland, and, though be stayed only part of three years in Italy, gained much from studies of Titian and other Venetians.

[1] The influence of these old masters dominated the future coloration of Hooke's pictures, and he applied the artistic lessons learned from his travels to the painting of romantic subjects and those English themes of land and sea which became his trademarks.

Soon after, he abandoned History Painting and turned his attention to genre depictions in rural landscapes like A Rest by the Wayside and A Few Minutes to Wait before Twelve o'clock (both exhibited 1854).