Walter Withers | |
|---|---|
 Withers in 1906 | |
| Born | Walter Herbert Withers (1854-10-22)22 October 1854 |
| Died | 13 October 1914(1914-10-13) (aged 59) Eltham, Victoria, Australia |
| Alma mater | Académie Julian |
| Movement | Heidelberg School |
| Awards | Wynne Prize 1897The Storm |
| Elected | Victorian Artists Society |
Walter Herbert Withers (22 October 1854 – 13 October 1914) was an English-born Australian landscape artist and a member of theHeidelberg School of Australianimpressionists.
Withers was born on 22 October 1854, atHandsworth, the son of Edwin Withers. He showed an early desire to paint, but objection was made to this by his father. It is not known what occupation he followed in England, his father objected to his becoming a professional painter.
In 1882, he arrived inAustralia with the intention of working on a farm. After working for about 18 months on a farm, Withers removed toMelbourne and obtained a position as draughtsman in a firm of printers. During the period of his black and white work, Withers executed, in chalk, portraits for reproduction, that of the Count von Bismark being an especially fine example of his work in this direction.[1] In his spare time Withers sought to cultivate his art, and eventually had work accepted for exhibition in the Old Academy, Melbourne.
In 1887, Withers went to Europe, and there he married Fanny Flinn in October of that year. He and his wife settled in a small flat in Paris and he studied for some months at theAcadémie Julian.[2]
He returned to Australia with his wife in June 1888 having been commissioned to do black and white work for Messrs Fergusson and Mitchell of Melbourne. His most important work in this way will be found in the illustrations toEdmund Finn's,The Chronicles of Early Melbourne.
Withers settled down at first atKew, a suburb of Melbourne, and then inEaglemont on the other side of the riverYarra. He became friendly withArthur Streeton,Charles Conder,Tom Roberts,Frederick McCubbin and other leading artists of the period. He began to sell a few pictures, but the collapse of the land boom put an end to his illustrative work. In 1890, Withers and his family moved intoCharterisville Estate inEast Ivanhoe.[2] In 1903, they moved for the last time to Eltham, to a timber house on the corner of Bolton and Brougham Streets. Here, Withers added a studio, where he painted many works featuring the local landscape.[3]
Withers's influence as a painter, upon younger art students of his time, was marked. He obtained some work as a drawing and painting master in schools, and amongst those who were his pupils werePercy Lindsay, and his younger brotherNorman Lindsay.[1]
In 1891, he opened a studio inCollins Street West, where he held his first private exhibition. From 1894, Withers spent the next four years in a cottage in Cape Street,Heidelberg, Victoria. It was here that he painted some of his finest work, of thefin de siècle period.[1] In 1894 his masterpiece,Tranquil Winter, was exhibited at theVictorian Artists Society exhibition and bought by the trustees of theNational Gallery of Victoria.The Selector's Home, painted in 1895, was an achievement that won the admiration ofArthur Streeton andFred McCubbin.[1]
He settled down to a steady career of painting though not at first successful commercially. In 1897, he was awarded the firstWynne Prize at Sydney for his picture,The Storm, which was in the same year purchased for theNational Gallery of New South Wales. He was elected to the council of the Victorian Artists Society in 1889, and in 1905 held the office of president for a year. His health was deteriorating towards the end of his life but he continued to do a large amount of painting both inoils and inwatercolours. After his death his work was successful in exhibitions atSedon Galleries, where on one occasion it was exhibited with the work of his son, C. Meynell Withers.[4]
He died inEltham, Victoria, on 13 October 1914 and was outlived by his wife and four children, includingMargery Withers, who was also a painter. He was buried at theAnglican Church of Saint Helena.[2]
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