Later Victorian Portraits Catalogue

Painter; born January 1849, in Rome, his father William Waterhouse, a painter. Entered Royal Academy Schools as student of sculpture 1871; exhibited as a painter at RA annually 1874–1917 (except 1890 and 1915), his subject matter drawn from history, mythology and contemporary literature (his famous Lady of Shalott [exh. RA 1888; Tate] and St Cecilia [exh. RA 1895; priv. coll.] were inspired by Alfred Tennyson’s poems); worked from Primrose Hill Studios, London 1878–1900; married Esther Maria Kenworthy (1857–1944), flower painter, 1883 – they were childless; elected ARA 1885, RA 1895; history painting Mariamne (exh. RA 1887; priv. coll.) exh. Paris 1889, Chicago 1893 and Brussels 1897, gaining international awards; in 1900 moved to 10 Hall Road, St John’s Wood, London, where lived until death on 10 February 1917.

In spite of his success as a Royal Academician, and his many wealthy patrons, there is a shortage of personal anecdote and information on Waterhouse.

Carol Blackett-Ord

Referencesback to top

Armour 1937
Armour, G.D., Bridle and Brush: Reminiscences of an Artist Sportsman, London and New York, 1937.

Goodchild & Hobson 1978
Goodchild, A., and A. Hobson, John William Waterhouse R.A. 1849–1917, exh. cat., Sheffield City Art Galleries, 1978.

Hobson 1980
Hobson, A., The Art and Life of J.W. Waterhouse RA 1849–1917, London, 1980.

Lincoln 1994
William Logsdail 1859–1944, exh. cat., Usher Gallery, Lincoln, 1994.

Prettejohn et al. 2008
Prettejohn, E., and others, J.W. Waterhouse: The Modern Pre-Raphaelite, exh. cat., Groninger Museum, Groningen, Royal Academy, London and Montreal Museum of Fine Arts: London, 2008.

Robinson [1892]
Robinson, R.W., Members and Associates of the Royal Academy of Arts, 1891. Photographed in their Studios by Ralph W. Robinson of Redhill, n.p., [1892].

Trippi 2002
Trippi, P., J.W. Waterhouse, London, 2002.

Trippi 2004
Trippi, P., ‘Waterhouse, John William (1849–1917)’, ODNB, Oxford, 2004; online ed., May 2009.

Warner 1997
Warner, M., The Victorians: British Painting 1837–1901, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1997.