John William Waterhouse (April 6, 1849 – February 10, 1917) was an English Pre-Raphaelite painter most famous for his paintings of female characters from mythology and literature. He belonged to the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

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.

"Sleep and his Half-brother Death", 1874

Waterhouse could not finish the series of Ophelia paintings because he was gravely ill with cancer by 1915. He died two years later, and his grave can be found at Kensal Green Cemetery in London.

Gallery

	Odysseus and the Sirens	Undine
The Lady of Shalott, 1888 (Tate Gallery, London)	Ophelia (1889)

Hylas and the Nymphs (1896).

See also

• List of paintings by John William Waterhouse

External links

• John William Waterhouse (The Art and Life of JW Waterhouse);
• "J.W. Waterhouse: The Modern Pre-Raphaelite": information about the upcoming exhibition 2008-2010
• Waterhouse at Tate Britain
• ''Echo and Narcissus'' (1903)
• John William Waterhouse at artrenewal.org
• Ten Dreams Galleries
• John William Waterhouse in the "History of Art"
• Scent and femininity in John William Waterhouse's "The Soul of the Rose"
• Hundrends of images by the artist online.

References

• Benezit, E. (2006). Waterhouse, John William. In Dictionary of Artists (Vol 14, pp 668-669). Paris:Grund.
• Trippi, P. (2002). J.W.Waterhouse. New York, NY: Phaidon Press Limited.

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