Fine Art Tuesday

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said the Lady of Shalott, John William Waterhouse, 1915

I can hear you now-“Here he goes again with the ethereal beauties thing.” Guilty as charged. It’s a sickness.

John William Waterhouse was an English painter who worked in a number of styles and who’s works are known for their Arthurian and Greek mythology influenced content.

Today’s work is I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said the Lady of Shalott, painted in 1915. It’s the third painting based on Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem The Lady of Shalott.

Waterhouse was born in Rome in 1849 to English parents who were also artists. In 1859 the family moved back to London, where Waterhouse was encouraged to pursue his artistic interests. In 1871 he began study at the Royal Academy of Art, and sometime between then and 1874 began exhibiting his works.

Waterhouse was a well-known and popular artist during his lifetime. Unfortunately, by 1915 he was diagnosed with cancer, dying 2 years later in 1917. Because of this, several series were left unfinished, including the last of the Lady of Shalott paintings.

Fine Art Tuesday was started by Eaton Rapids Joe in memory of Ol’ Remus, late proprietor of  the Woodpile Report. If you’re a blogger and are so moved, please feel free to join us with your own Fine Art Tuesday post.