Walter Osborne
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Walter Frederick Osborne (17 June 1859 – 24 April 1903) was an Irish
impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
and
Post-Impressionism Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...
landscape and portrait painter, best known for his documentary depictions of late 19th century working class life. Most of his paintings are figurative and focus on women, children, the elderly, the poor, and the day-to-day life of ordinary people on Dublin streets, as well as series of rural scenes. He also produced city-scapes, which he painted from both sketches and photographs. A prolific artist, he produced oils, watercolours, and numerous pencil sketches. Osborne's talent was evident as a young man and he traveled widely in his youth; studying at the Academie Royale des Beaux Arts in Antwerp. He became a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy after an early showing. Later, he spent time in rural England and
Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
, where he became acquainted with the style of the impressionists. Osborne produced works in oil, water-colour, pastel and pencil. His main source of income was portraiture, landscapes and depictions of animals, but he is today better known for his documentary depictions of Ireland's working class poor. Osborne had an engaging, charismatic personality and was well thought of in a variety of social circles. He died from pneumonia at 43 years, before achieving his full potential. Today he is regarded as a major Irish artist.


Life


Early life

Walter Osborne was born in
Rathmines Rathmines (; ) is an inner suburb on the Southside (Dublin), Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal of Ireland, Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to the south, Ranela ...
, Dublin, the second of three sons of William Osborne, a successful animal painter who specialised in portraying horses and dogs for the then prosperous Irish landlords.Campbell, Julian.
Walter Frederick Osborne, R.H.A. (1859-1903)
.
Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...
, 14 May 2004. Retrieved 20 May 2017
By the 1880s, many landlords had hit economic difficulties, and William had to focus on painting mostly dogs. Walter learned from his father that there was money to be earned from painting animals, and he produced quite a few; including of children with their pets, notably his 1885 ''A New Arrival'', and a series of impressionistic works on cows. Yet, according to art historian Campbell, in these paintings, "Osborne eschews the overly sentimental or literary quality of much Victorian genre painting, and displays a more down-to-earth, realistic approach, and a mood of gentleness." He was educated at Rathmines School and at the Royal Hibernian Academy school.Boylan


Success

He won the Taylor Prize in 1881 and 1882, the highest student honour in Ireland of the time, while studying at the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten in
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
. He was influenced by the Flemish painter
Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...
, and the French realist, plein-air painter,
Jules Bastien-Lepage Jules Bastien-Lepage (1 November 1848 – 10 December 1884) was a French painter closely associated with the beginning of naturalism, an artistic style that grew out of the Realist movement and paved the way for the development of impressioni ...
, as well as Berthe Morisot.Walter Frederick Osborne (1859–1903)
. visual-arts-cork.com. Retrieved 20 May 2017
In 1883, Osborne moved from Antwerp to
Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
where he painted his famous ''Apple Gathering,
Quimperlé Quimperlé (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Finistère Departments of France, department, region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern France. Geography Quimperlé is in the southeast of Finistère, 20 km t ...
'', now in the
National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland () houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on Clare Street, Dublin, Clare Street. It ...
. Soon after, he moved to England where he worked alongside Nathaniel Hill and Augustus Burke at Walberswick. During his period he often returned to Dublin to make preparatory sketches for what became his most renowned series, of the everyday lives of the city's poor. Although highly regarded today, these documentary, street paintings were not commercially successful, and Osborne supplemented his income through portrait paintings of the middle class, which were not as artistically satisfying. In 1886, he was elected to the Royal Hibernian Academy and received many commissions for portraits.Boylan This was an important source of income, as he had no private means of his own. After his sister died he was involved in looking after her daughter, and his own parents became increasingly financially dependent on him. In 1892, he returned to Ireland to live in the family residence, and he also kept a studio at No. 7
St. Stephen's Green St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by Ar ...
. He spent a considerable amount of time painting outdoors, in Dublin around St. Patrick's Cathedral or in the country. He was well liked in social circles and counted the surgeon Sir Thornely Stoker, brother of
Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of t ...
, among his best friends.


Death

His mother became ill in the early 1900s, and Walter spend significant periods caring for her. In 1903, while gardening, he overheated himself and caught a
chill In computing, CHILL (an acronym for CCITT High Level Language) is a procedural programming language designed for use in telecommunication switches (the hardware used inside telephone exchanges). The language is still used for legacy systems ...
, which he neglected, and which developed into
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
. He died prematurely from the illness on April 24, 1903 at the age of 43. He is buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery.Boylan Some critics have suggested that at the time of his death he was on the brink of his artistic maturity. His final work ''Tea in the Garden'', a fusion of naturalism and impressionism, remained unfinished at his death and is now in the collection of the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery in Dublin. Today his work is highly sought after by collectors. Writing in 1943, and lamenting Osborne's early death, Stephen Gwynn wrote that he "never knew a man who seemed more likely than Walter Osborne to live to a happy and vigorous old age".Gwynn (1943), 463 His final work was ''"Tea in the Garden'', described as "a beautiful combination of naturalism and impressionism remained unfinished at his death".


Gallery

File:Walter Osborne A Grey Morning in a Breton Farmyard.jpg, ''A Grey Morning in a Breton Farmyard'', before 1884 File:Walter Osborne Milking Time.jpg, ''Milking Time'' File:Walter Osborne Galway Market Scene.jpg, ''
Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
Market Scene'' File:Walter Osborne The Card Builders.jpg, ''The Card Builders'' File:Walter Osborne A New Arrival.jpg, '' A New Arrival'', 1885 File:'A Backstreet in the Snow' by Walter Osborne.jpg, ''A Backstreet in the Snow'', 1895 File:Walter Osborne ortrait of Mrs Chadwyck-Healy and her Daughter.jpg, Portrait of Mrs Chadwyck-Healy and her Daughter, 1901 File:Walter Osborne Summertime.jpg, ''Summertime'', 1901


References


Notes


Sources

*Boylan, Henry. ''A Dictionary of Irish Biography, 3rd Edition''. Dublin: Gill and MacMillan, 1998. * Gwynn, Stephen. ''Walter Osborne and Ireland 1859-1903''. Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, Vol. 32, No. 128, Dec., 1943
Irish Art Archive - Walter Frederick Osborne - Milmo-Penny Fine Art
*"The Irish Impressionists, Irish Artists in France and Belgium 1850-1914". Julian Campbell. National Gallery of Ireland, 1984
A Dictionary of Irish Artists
. Library Ireland, 1913 * *


Bibliography

*Sheehy, Jeanne. ''Walter Osborne''. Town House, 1991 *Campbell, Julian. ''Walter Osborne in the west of Ireland'', Adam's, 2004


External links



(ArtCyclopedia)

(Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osborne, Walter 1859 births 1903 deaths Irish Impressionist painters 19th-century Irish painters Irish male painters Painters from Dublin (city) Walter Osborne Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) alumni Deaths from pneumonia in the Republic of Ireland 19th-century Irish male artists