Biographies

John William Waterhouse (1849 – 1917) Waterhouse was born in 1849 in Rome, where his father worked as a painter. In the 1850s the family returned to England. Before entering the Royal Academy schools in 1870, Waterhouse assisted his father in his studio.In 1883 he married Esther Kenworthy at the parish church in Ealing in West London. In 1901 he moved to St John’s Wood and joined the St John’s Wood Arts Club, a social organization that included and . He also served on the advisory council of the Saint John’s Wood Art School. He was patronised by the financier Alexander Henderson, later 1st Lord Faringdon, who bought many paintings between 1903 and 1917, the sugar magnate Sir Henry Tate, and the Australian mining millionaire George McCulloch. Lawrence Alma-TademaAlma-TademaLawrence George Clausen His work became very popular and posters of it are still popular today. He was one of a number of artists who moved Pre-Raphaelitism in the direction of decadence–a popular move apparently. Huntly Carter, in , for February 17, 1900, took a dim view of his work, referring to “the machine-made pictures of Waterhouse.” The New Age (NA 6.16:378)