J.W. Waterhouse

The Artist and His ArtBy: Miss Mooney

~Content~John William WaterhouseHis artworkTriviaReference Index

John William Waterhouse•John 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.

From 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.

JW 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 ArtworkWaterhouse 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.

JW Waterhouse was able to fuseFrench and British painting stylestogether to form his own technique. It is visible by his brushstrokes hewas 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 brushstrokesit appears as if the image was captures ina single instant.

The 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 1892-1913 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.

ReferenceTrippi, 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