Josephine Wall
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Josephine Wall (born May 1947 in
Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...
,
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
) is an English
fantasy art Fantastic art is a broad and loosely defined art genre. It is not restricted to a specific school of artists, geographical location or historical period. It can be characterised by subject matter—which portrays non-realistic, mystical, mythi ...
ist and
sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
.


Biography


Early life

Educated at Farnham and
Parkstone Parkstone is an area of Poole, in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It is divided into 'Lower' and 'Upper' Parkstone. Upper Parkstone – "Up-on-'ill" as it used to be known in ...
(
Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
)
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
s, she studied at
Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...
College and worked at Poole Pottery as a designer and painter of Delphis Ware. Her pottery figures include characters from Tolkien's ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...
'' and
mythological Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
creatures. Pieces of this work now feature in a book on the history of Poole Pottery.


Paintings

Her paintings are mainly influenced and inspired by
Arthur Rackham Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...
, with lesser influences from
surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
artists such as Magritte and Dalí, and the
romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
of the
pre-Raphaelites The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti ...
. A number of her works were exhibited in
Teheran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District. With a population of around 9.8 million in the city as of 2025, ...
and
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
during 1974 and her first solo exhibition took place the following year in
Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...
. Josephine and her paintings were the subject of a special feature on
Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as Southern Television Limited. However, in 1966, during the application pr ...
in 1990. Following a visit to the Spring Fair in Birmingham in 1993 she signed contracts with firms in
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
and
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
to publish her work as prints, posters and cards for worldwide distribution. In addition to a range of Limited Edition Prints, Josephine Wall continues to work with her exclusive licensing agents Art Impressions in California who began licensing her work around the world in 1996. They are responsible for finding the contacts and setting up licensing deals. It has been used for greeting cards, calendars, posters, stained glass, craft transfers (T shirts), journals, stationery, cheques and cheque covers, mugs, magnets, suncatchers, treasure boxes, wall murals, scrapbook paper sets, fabric squares, figurines, and puzzles. In 1998 five original works were selected for an exhibition at
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
's Mall Gallery entitled "Art of the Imagination". Josephine has subsequently joined the circle of artists in the society of the same name.Member's Art of The Society for Art of Imagination
/ref> Since then her works have been selected by Ron and Yvette Emard (Founders of Courtyard of Romance) for exhibitions at
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
Art Expo and have been the subject of a book ''The Fantasy World of Josephine Wall'', jointly published by the artist and Courtyard of Romance. Pop singer
Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...
has used a number of Josephine's images on her website. Britney also purchased a number of Limited Edition prints and Josephine is working on an original painting for her. Ron and Yvette Emard have also been featured in at least two of Josephine's paintings and are the proud owners of the largest private collection of Josephine Wall originals in the world.


Timeline

1967 – Following three years at Bournemouth College studying Fine Art, Josephine worked at Poole Pottery as a designer and painter of Delphis Ware (now very collectable), later modeling animals to be displayed at Harrods in London. Her pottery figures include characters from Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' and mythological creatures. Certain pieces of this work now form part of a book on the history of Poole Pottery. 1974 – A number of larger paintings were exhibited in Teheran and Tokyo. 1975 – Held her first solo exhibition in Swindon. 1990 – Following a period during which she brought up her three children whilst still exhibiting both locally and abroad, a second solo exhibition was held at the Mayfield Gallery in Bournemouth. Also during this year, Josephine and her paintings were the subject of a special feature on Southern Television in the UK. 1991 - Held her third solo exhibition at the Mayfield Gallery. 1993 – Following a visit to the Spring Fair in Birmingham she signed contracts with F. J. Warren based in Hitchen, England and Wizard and Genius from Switzerland to publish her work in the form of framing prints, posters and cards. These prints are distributed worldwide. 1995 – Josephine's painting "Dance of all Seasons" was selected for the cover of W&G's "Cheerful Joys" catalogue. 1996 – Signed a licensing agreement with Art Impressions based in Los Angeles, California, which has led to many new outlets for Josephine's images. Many products are now produced including cards, stationery, puzzles, journals, bookplates, back to school products, mugs, needlepoint kits and posters, as well as limited edition prints. 1998 – Five original works were selected for an exhibition at London's Mall Gallery entitled "Art of the Imagination". Josephine has subsequently joined the circle of artists in the society of the same name, with the possibility of many more exhibitions worldwide. 1999 – Many products are now produced including cards, stationery, puzzles, journals, bookplates, back to school products, mugs, needlepoint kits and posters, as well as limited edition prints. 2004 – First exhibition at the New York Art Expo, resulting in 6 images being selected for use as Hand Embellished Limited Edition Prints for sale at auctions on board cruise ships around the world. 2005 – Exhibition at New York Art Expo at which my first book was released ''The Fantasy World of Josephine Wall''. 2006 – Leanin' Tree requested a series of "Zodiac" images which were completed in 6 months, and have proved to be very popular. They were exhibited all together at Courtenays Fine Art Gallery in Westbourne. Seven were sold that evening, and the rest soon followed.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wall, Josephine English speculative fiction artists British fantasy artists English women painters People from Farnham Living people 1947 births 21st-century English women artists 21st-century English women 21st-century English artists