(Revised 2/2015 - 170 Larger Pre-Raphaelite Paintings with biography, formatted for Kindle HDX, HD, Kindle for iOS and Android tablets.)
JOHN WILLIAM WATERHOUSE Art Book contains 170 Pre-Raphaelite Reproductions of Fantasy and Mythology, Literary, Religious and Portrait Themes with detail page for all images, museum links and biography. Book includes Table of Contents, Top 50 Museums of the World, and is formatted for all Kindle devices, Kindle for iOS and Android Tablets (use rotate and/or zoom feature on landscape/horizontal images for optimal viewing).
John William Waterhouse was born in early 1849 (the exact date is not known) to English painters William and Isabella Waterhouse in the city of Rome. And although his family returned to England in 1854 when he was still quite young, it is this early exposure to the Classical sights,
sounds, and aesthetic of Rome to which much of his later inspiration and thematic imagery can be attributed.
“Nino”, as he was known to his artist parents, was from the beginning encouraged to take up drawing, and could often be found sketching artworks in the British Museum, the National Gallery, and the newly established Victoria and Albert Museum, very near to the Waterhouse home in South Kensington. He also showed an early passion for ancient history, and took advantage of his time in school to study the associated classical stories and myths.
He was fortunate to have two parents as informal tutors, and soon began assisting his father William in his studio. It seems to be this apprenticeship experience that led to his application to the Royal Academy in 1870.
Admission to the Academy had previously been dependent on a prospective student submitting three different chalk drawings, of an anatomical figure, a skeleton, and an antique figure. But by the time Waterhouse applied, only one piece was required of a prospective painting student, “a finished Drawing in Chalk, about two feet high, of an Undraped, Antique Statue.” John submitted a drawing of the Discobolus housed in his old haunt, the Victoria and Albert Museum. Apparently, he too faithfully recorded the dust and dirt accumulated on the statue, and he was not accepted. Undeterred, he then applied as a sculptor with a statue in clay, possibly with the advice of his father’s close friend, the sculptor Edward James Physick. With this submission his application was accepted, and he entered as a Probationer on July 28, 1870.
Although accepted into the Sculpture School, his required sponsor was, interestingly enough, a painter, F.R. Pickersgill. He had been a member of the Academy since 1857, and was very likely the influence that returned Waterhouse to painting. His influences included Titian and Etty, and he focused on subjects of history, literature, and the Middle East, which are also expressed in Waterhouse’s early paintings.
During the 1870s and 80s he made several trips to Europe, especially Italy. Here he found inspiration in the classical and Pre-Raphaelite styles. Waterhouse submitted his first painting to the the Academy’s prestigious Summer Exhibition in 1874. The reception for Sleep and His Half-Brother Death was very enthusiastic, and he would go on to exhibit work in the exhibition every year for the rest of his life. (con't)
JOHN WILLIAM WATERHOUSE Art Book contains 170 Pre-Raphaelite Reproductions of Fantasy and Mythology, Literary, Religious and Portrait Themes with detail page for all images, museum links and biography. Book includes Table of Contents, Top 50 Museums of the World, and is formatted for all Kindle devices, Kindle for iOS and Android Tablets (use rotate and/or zoom feature on landscape/horizontal images for optimal viewing).
John William Waterhouse was born in early 1849 (the exact date is not known) to English painters William and Isabella Waterhouse in the city of Rome. And although his family returned to England in 1854 when he was still quite young, it is this early exposure to the Classical sights,
sounds, and aesthetic of Rome to which much of his later inspiration and thematic imagery can be attributed.
“Nino”, as he was known to his artist parents, was from the beginning encouraged to take up drawing, and could often be found sketching artworks in the British Museum, the National Gallery, and the newly established Victoria and Albert Museum, very near to the Waterhouse home in South Kensington. He also showed an early passion for ancient history, and took advantage of his time in school to study the associated classical stories and myths.
He was fortunate to have two parents as informal tutors, and soon began assisting his father William in his studio. It seems to be this apprenticeship experience that led to his application to the Royal Academy in 1870.
Admission to the Academy had previously been dependent on a prospective student submitting three different chalk drawings, of an anatomical figure, a skeleton, and an antique figure. But by the time Waterhouse applied, only one piece was required of a prospective painting student, “a finished Drawing in Chalk, about two feet high, of an Undraped, Antique Statue.” John submitted a drawing of the Discobolus housed in his old haunt, the Victoria and Albert Museum. Apparently, he too faithfully recorded the dust and dirt accumulated on the statue, and he was not accepted. Undeterred, he then applied as a sculptor with a statue in clay, possibly with the advice of his father’s close friend, the sculptor Edward James Physick. With this submission his application was accepted, and he entered as a Probationer on July 28, 1870.
Although accepted into the Sculpture School, his required sponsor was, interestingly enough, a painter, F.R. Pickersgill. He had been a member of the Academy since 1857, and was very likely the influence that returned Waterhouse to painting. His influences included Titian and Etty, and he focused on subjects of history, literature, and the Middle East, which are also expressed in Waterhouse’s early paintings.
During the 1870s and 80s he made several trips to Europe, especially Italy. Here he found inspiration in the classical and Pre-Raphaelite styles. Waterhouse submitted his first painting to the the Academy’s prestigious Summer Exhibition in 1874. The reception for Sleep and His Half-Brother Death was very enthusiastic, and he would go on to exhibit work in the exhibition every year for the rest of his life. (con't)
