JOHN WILLIAM WATERHOUSE 1849-1917

Pre-Raphaelite painter most famous for his paintings of female characters from mythology.

 

He was born in Rome to the painters William and Isabela Waterhouse, but when he was five the family moved to South Kensington, near the newly founded Victoria and Albert Museum. Waterhouse is one of the rare artists who became popular and relatively well-off financially when he was alive. He continued to paint until his death on the 10th of February, 1917 after a long illness. His style became a major influence on many of the later Pre-raphaelites including Frank Dicksee and Herber James Draper.

Waterhouse's most famous painting is The Lady of Shalott, a study of a Elaine of Astolat, who dies of grief when Lancelot will not love her. He actually painted three different versions of this character, in 1888, 1896, and 1916.

 

Gallery pictures: The Crystal Ball by John ..., The Lady of Shalott, 1888, Miranda and The Tempest, The Shrine, Hylas and the Nymphs, La Belle Dame Sans Merci, Ophelia, Danaides, Echo and Narcissus, The Naiad, 1893 (Hylas with a nymph), The Soul of the Rose, 1908, The Awakening of Adonis, The Orange Gatherers, Listen to my Sweet Pipings, 1911, Saint Cecilia, Narcissus

 

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