Education
Strudwick attended Street Saviour"s Grammar School in Southwark.
Strudwick attended Street Saviour"s Grammar School in Southwark.
Disliking the idea of a business career, he took classes at the Royal Academy Schools in South Kensington, but was not regarded as a promising student. In the 1860s he was encouraged by a visitor, the Scottish genre painter, John Pettie, whose style he subsequently emulated. His depiction of the ballad of "Auld Robin Gray", which was exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists in 1873, is an example of this period.
In keeping with artists in his circle, he exhibited at the Grosvenor and New Galleries.
Strudwick"s studio was in Hammersmith, close to that of Burne-Jones and Thomas Matthews Rooke, who had also been an assistant to Burne-Jones. His initial success as a painter came to an end when wealthy and influential patrons such as the Liverpool shipowners William Imrie and George Holt withdrew their support.
His painting "When Sorrow comes in Summer Days, Roses Bloom in Vain" was left half finished in protest at the seemingly orchestrated collapse of his career. The Times obituary described him as "a beautiful old manitoba
(and) a charming personality, exceedingly kind to young artists".