John William Waterhouse (1849-1917)
John William Waterhouse was born in Rome to English parents, both of whom were painters, and lived there for the early years of his life absorbing Italy's classical heritage. Throughout his schooldays, Waterhouse's artistic talent lay dormant, but his young mind was constantly nourished on a diet of ancient history, which he read voraciously. On coming to England, Waterhouse began to study at his father's studio, where his talent immerged, and then gained admission into the Royal Academy in 1870.
While very much a classical painter, Waterhouse has been often classified as a Pre-Raphaelite because of his dedication to beautiful girls in the Pre-Raphaelite style, fondness for the idea of femme fatale, and realism. John William Waterhouse painted more than 300 pictures and studies, and drew hundreds of sketches over a period of forty-seven years between 1870 when he was a student in the Royal Academy Schools and 1917 when he died in his studio home in St John's Wood. He was a romanticist painter giving to his art highly imaginative interpretations of mythological characters and personages from ancient history as well as from poetry and literature.
His most Pre-Raphaelite painting is 'The Lady of Shalott'(1888), and some of his other important paintings are 'The Favorites of the Emperor Honorius' (1883), 'Consulting the Oracle' (1884), and 'Saint Eulalia' (1885).
Waterhouse's creative genius was to reach its peak in the 1890's and during this decade he produced most of his most memorable masterpieces. In 1891 he painted the large and extraordinary 'Ulysses and the Sirens', which was bought for an Australian museum almost straight out of the Academy.
During the 1890's Waterhouse was to paint many more beautiful paintings such as 'Ophelia' in 1894, 'Saint Cecilia' in 1895, Ariadne in 1989 and 'Hylas and the Nymphs' (1896).
After 1900 he continued painting and his style becomes more refined, more decorous and less dramatic, producing 'A Mermaid' (1901) and 'Echo and Narcissus' (1903). He painted another 'Lady of Shalott' as late as 1915. Works like these are among the last final painting of the Brotherhood, which started sixty years before.
By 1912 his health has started to decline and his creative powers with it. In 1915 he failed to send a picture to the RA for the first time in twenty-four years. His last painting, 'The Enchanted Garden' he left unfinished, which seems somewhat appropriate.
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