
John William Waterhouse Painting Reproductions Gallery 1 of 5
1849-1917English Victorian Romanticism Painter
John William Waterhouse (April 6, 1849 - February 10, 1917) was a British neo-classical and Pre-Raphaelite painter most famous for his paintings of female characters from mythology and literature.
Early life
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. He studied painting under his father before entering the Royal Academy schools in 1870. His early works were of classical themes in the spirit of Alma-Tadema and Frederic Leighton, and were exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Society of British Artists and the Dudley Gallery.
Later career
In 1874, at the age of twenty-five, Waterhouse submitted the classical allegory Sleep and His Half-Brother Death to the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition. The painting was very well received and he exhibited at the RA almost every year afterwards until his death in 1917. In 1883 he married Esther Kenworthy, the daughter of an art schoolmaster from Ealing who had exhibited her own flower-paintings at the Royal Academy and elsewhere. They had two children, but both died in childhood.
In 1895 Waterhouse was elected to the status of full Academician. He taught at the St. John's Wood Art School, joined the St John's Wood Arts Club, and served on the Royal Academy Council.
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.
His grave can be found at Kensal Green Cemetery in London.
99 Paintings of Waterhouse
Tate Gallery London United Kingdom
The Lady of Shalott
$681
$55.70
Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt Germany
La Belle Dame Sans Merci
$693
$55.04
Manchester Art Gallery Manchester United Kingdom
Hylas and the Nymphs
$1475
$47.90
Private Collection
Ophelia
$700
$47.90
Tate Gallery London United Kingdom
The Magic Circle
$683
$49.37
Private Collection
Fair Rosamund
$677
$53.86
Lady Lever Art Gallery Port Sunlight United Kingdom
The Enchanted Garden
$1201
$50.16
Art Gallery of South Australia Adelaide Australia
Circe Invidiosa
$650
$56.74
Lady Lever Art Gallery Port Sunlight United Kingdom
A Tale from the Decameron
$1676
$56.80
Private Collection
Tristan and Isolde with the Potion
$739
$53.33
Art Gallery and Museums Aberdeen United Kingdom
Penelope and the Suitors
$1614
$47.90
Private Collection
Mrs Charles Schreiber
$552
Art Gallery of Ontario Toronto Canada
'I am Half Sick of Shadows' Said the Lady of Shalott
$586
$52.80
Private Collection
Miranda - The Tempest
$535
$52.14
Royal Academy of Arts London United Kingdom
A Mermaid
$650
$49.90
Private Collection
The Siren
$586
$47.90
Private Collection
Nymphs finding the Head of Orpheus
$791
$47.90
Private Collection
Psyche Opening the Golden Box
$614
$47.90
Walker Art Gallery Liverpool United Kingdom
Echo and Narcissus
$855
$50.95
Private Collection
Windflowers
$791
$47.90
Collection Peter Nahum London United Kingdom
Vanity
$625
$108.66
Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museum Burnley United Kingdom
Destiny
$569
$59.66
Private Collection
Ariadne
$614
$52.85
Art Gallery Oldham United Kingdom
Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses
$625
$47.90