Frederick Walker and the Idyllists
Frederick Walker and the Idyllists by Donato Esposito, published by Lund Humphries in 2017, is the first book in over a century to explore the work of watercolour artist and illustrator Frederick Walker (1840–1875), described by Sir John Everett Millais as “the greatest artist of the century”, as well as that of his closest artistic allies.
Donato Esposito focuses successive chapters on the lives and works of each of the core members of Walker’s group, charting their unconventional journey from a loosely bound collective rooted in the London-based black-and-white world of commercial illustration to a renowned grouping known as the Idyllists, respected and eagerly collected by galleries and private individuals in Europe, America and Australia.
In this blog post, we offer you a glimpse into this publication (now part of our 60% off Summer Sale!), which features a wealth of beautiful illustrations...
John William North, The Home Pond (from A Round of Days), 1866,
Wood engraving, 17.7 x 13.4 cm,
Royal Academy of Arts, London
Frederick Walker, The First Swallow, 1867
Water colour and bodycolour 35.2 x 23.9 cm,
British Museum, London, Bequeathed by Cecil French, 1954
George John Pinwell, The Quarrel: Old Cross, c.1870
Oil on canvas, 98.5 x 130.1 cm,
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Purchased 1909
John William North, An English Summer’s Day, 1891-2
Oil on canvas 89.8 x 106.7 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Purchased 1892
Cecil Lawson, In the Minister’s Garden, 1878
Oil on canvas, 184.2 x 275 cm
Manchester Art Gallery, Purchased 1883
Robert Walker Macbeth, The Cast Shoe, 1890
Oil on canvas, 83.2 x 137.2 cm,
Tate, London, Presented by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest, 1890
George Heming Mason, The Gander, 1864-5
Oil on canvas 48.5 x 83.6 cm,
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Presented by Lord Leverhulme, 1922
This blogpost was originally published on 04-07-2017 and was updated on 19-08-2020.