J.W. Waterhouse The Artist and His Art By: Miss Mooney

~ Content ~ John William Waterhouse His artwork Trivia Reference Index

John William Waterhouse J ohn William Water was born in Rome. He was birthed into a family of British artists. Both of his parents were accomplished painters. However much of his early life is unknown to us because of lost documentation. His exact date of birth is unknown.

F rom his father’s careful guidance Waterhouse started his journey of becoming a world renowned painter. Having received his parents talents JW Waterhouse use influenced by his father’s technique and subject matter. To develop his art skills Waterhouse’s parents sent him to study at the Royal Academy.

J W Waterhouse is known as a Victorian painter because of his father’s influence over his work and the period of time he painted. During Waterhouse had many accomplishments as displayed by his dozens of recognitions into prestige establishments. He created beautiful works of art throughout his life of both fiction figures and portraits of women from his community. Through he pasted away in 1917, JW Waterhouse lives on in his artwork.

His Artwork W aterhouse was able to create dozens of paints inspired by the literary creations of William Shakespeare and Lord Tennyson Alfred. By reading those authors he was able to use the words of the pages to create his masterpieces. Many of his paintings are based upon the female characters in the pieces of literature.

J W Waterhouse was able to fuse French and British painting styles together to form his own technique. It is visible by his brushstrokes he was been influenced by the British. In Lady of Shallot he leaves behind the art studio and adventures into nature to capture its essence. By using quick brushstrokes it appears as if the image was captures in a single instant.

T he figures of each painting is first practiced in pencil, then color, and finally oil paints. Each of the females of JW Waterhouse’s paints is a live model who patiently posed as the he captured their raw beauty on canvas. This paid off because Waterhouse was able to capture a realistic rendition of each individual forming a more whimsical painting.

Did You Know Trivia When JW Waterhouse was a child he was called Nino (Italian for Little John). Did you know Waterhouse painted three different Lady of Shallot. Each depicting a different stage in story of Lady of Shallot. Many of his paints have cracks in the paint because he did not allow the lower layer of paint dry enough before painting over it. As the bottom layer dried it pulled apart the paint causing the aged look.

John William Waterhouse was not only a painter but a teacher. From he taught at St. John’s Wood Art School. The South Kensington Museum is one of the many place Waterhouse displayed his work. The fun fact is he had used it from boyhood into his adult life. Many of the females in JW Waterhouse are characters of stories which end tragically.

Reference Trippi, Peter. J.W. Waterhouse. New York, NY:Phaidon Press Inc. 2002

Index Content- page 2 John William Waterhouse- p.3 through p.5 His Artwork- p. 6 through Did you Know Trivia- p.9 through p.10 References- p.11