
John William Waterhouse Painting Reproductions Gallery 3 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
Galleries and Museums Sheffield United Kingdom
Portrait Esther Kenworthy Waterhouse, the Artist's Wife
$837
$52.65
Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museum Burnley United Kingdom
The Unwelcome Companion (A Street Scene in Cairo)
$912
$63.26
Private Collection
Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May
$992
$69.65
National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne Australia
Ulysses and the Sirens
$2474
$48.75
Private Collection
Italian Girl (Resting)
$872
$46.42
Falmouth Art Gallery Cornwall United Kingdom
The Lady of Shalott
$969
$50.21
Private Collection
La Belle Dame Sans Merci
$817
$48.75
Private Collection
The Soul of the Rose
$957
$48.75
Private Collection
The Magic Circle
$866
$61.53
Private Collection
Circe
$936
$69.85
Private Collection
Boreas
$1082
$54.27
Art Gallery and Museums Aberdeen United Kingdom
The Danaides
$2182
Art Gallery of South Australia Adelaide Australia
The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius
$2141
$52.44
Private Collection
Gather ye Rosebuds while ye may
$1959
$60.31
Private Collection
The Annunciation
$1185
$53.86
Private Collection
Lady Violet Henderson
$1418
Private Collection
Sweet Summer
$936
$48.75
Private Collection
Listening to My Sweet Pipings
$1084
$49.75
Private Collection
A Song of Springtime
$1189
$58.29
Private Collection
Lamia
$1096
$48.75
Private Collection
The Flower Picker
$473
$48.75
Private Collection
The Charmer
$1024
$48.75
Private Collection
The Lady Clare
$856
$53.73
Private Collection
The Awakening of Adonis
$2918
$48.75