William Flint was a student of Daniel Stewart’s College for Boys (now Stewart's Melville College) in Edinburgh, where he received more academic art training.
College/University
Gallery of William Flint
ECA Main Building and Hunter Building, 74 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh EH3 9DF, United Kingdom
During the early 1890s, Flint also studied art in the evenings at the Royal Institute of Art (today the Edinburgh College of Art at the University of Edinburgh). He graduated from it in 1894.
Gallery of William Flint
75 Lots Rd, Chelsea, London SW10 0RN, UK
William Flint studied at Heatherley School of Fine Art in Chelsea.
Career
Gallery of William Flint
1938
The Selection Committee for the 170th Summer Exhibition at work, March 1938. The members are identified as (left to right): W. R. M. Lamb, Secretary, Sir Edwin Cooper R.A., James Woodford A.R.A., Gilbert Ledward R.A., William Russell Flint R.A., George Harcourt R.A., Sir William Llewellyn P.R.A., Oliver Hall R.A., Samuel John Lamorna Birch R.A., Harold Knight R.A., Frederick William Elwell A.R.A., Stephen Frederick Gooden A.R.A.
Gallery of William Flint
A vintage photograph of William Russell Flint.
Achievements
William Russell Flint.
Membership
Royal Institute of Oil Painters
1912
William Flint was elected to membership in the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in 1912.
Royal Academy of Arts
1924
In 1924 William Flint became an Associate of the Royal Academy, receiving full membership in 1933.
Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour
1936
Flint became a member of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour in 1936.
The Selection Committee for the 170th Summer Exhibition at work, March 1938. The members are identified as (left to right): W. R. M. Lamb, Secretary, Sir Edwin Cooper R.A., James Woodford A.R.A., Gilbert Ledward R.A., William Russell Flint R.A., George Harcourt R.A., Sir William Llewellyn P.R.A., Oliver Hall R.A., Samuel John Lamorna Birch R.A., Harold Knight R.A., Frederick William Elwell A.R.A., Stephen Frederick Gooden A.R.A.
William Flint was a student of Daniel Stewart’s College for Boys (now Stewart's Melville College) in Edinburgh, where he received more academic art training.
ECA Main Building and Hunter Building, 74 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh EH3 9DF, United Kingdom
During the early 1890s, Flint also studied art in the evenings at the Royal Institute of Art (today the Edinburgh College of Art at the University of Edinburgh). He graduated from it in 1894.
Sir William Russell Flint was a Scottish painter and illustrator. Although he worked in oils, tempera, and printmaking, he remains best known for his watercolours and his numerous depictions of the female body, infusing his images with a sense of realism and a light hint of eroticism. He created his works in the styles of Romanticism and Impressionism.
Background
Flint was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, on April 4, 1880, to Jane and Francis Wighton Flint. He grew up in an environment that was supportive of the arts in general. His father worked for the local police, and concurrently was a freelance watercolourist and designer. William Flint's mother was one of the first women to work in a civil service position in Scotland.
William Flint had two siblings. His parents encouraged all three of their children in active participation in the arts. Flint's sister, Charlotte Elizabeth, was a musician. She studied piano in Vienna with the famous Polish pianist and composer, Theodor Leschetizky, who taught many of the finest pianists, including Ignace Paderewski. Little is known of Flint’s brother, Robert Turvis. However, it is believed that he was encouraged to enjoy the arts within the family as well.
Education
William Flint’s primary education started at Miss Clinkscale’s School in Portobello, today, it is part of Edinburgh. He then left Miss Clinkscale’s School for Daniel Stewart’s College for Boys (now Stewart's Melville College) in Edinburgh, where he received more academic art training. He showed an early interest in drawing and painting, but it was during his school years that he learned drawing in a more formal context. During the early 1890s, he also studied art in the evenings at the Royal Institute of Art (today the Edinburgh College of Art at the University of Edinburgh).
After his graduation in 1894, Flint became an apprentice for a lithographer, he learned illustration and printing skills as well as the discipline of hard work and consistent production. This became a good foundation for him when he settled London on August 12, 1900, after completing his six-year discipleship. During the first eighteen months in London, William Flint worked as a medical illustrator and spent long hours at the British Museum studying the vast range of collections of drawings and paintings.
During his first years in London, William Flint also studied at Heatherley School of Fine Art in Chelsea. The school had an independent curriculum and the students were not limited by overly restrictive academic traditions. It was also the first English art school to admit women on equal standing with men. This open-minded attitude explained the fact that some of the most forward-looking students of the day studied with Flint there. Among them were Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, Edward Burne-Jones and Walter Sickert.
Flint had established himself as an artist by 1903. He had freelance work for The Illustrated London News. His first serious project consisted of a series of illustrations for the Christmas week issue of the magazine in December 1903. In January 1904 he received a commission for a full-page of illustrations of the private theatrical performances held at Chatsworth. His illustrations were a real success and the artist became a staff illustrator shortly thereafter.
William Flint rented a studio close to the British Museum. Here he could work on his illustrations, develop his skills as a figure painter and concentrate on the increasing number of commissions. In an effort to master the art of figure painting, Flint started his collaboration with Sibylle Sueter, a model. Soon they were not only working regularly, but also spending considerable time together.
Flint’s career as an illustrator was progressing well during the 1900s, as illustrations for books as well as magazines and newspapers were highly valued. William Flint worked at The Illustrated London News until 1907. He decided to leave the magazine because he had enough private commissions. Among the most prominent of these clients was the Riccardi Press, which commissioned him to produce illustrations for several books.
In 1909 the Riccardi Press started its collaboration with the Medici Society, an organization dedicated to creating artists' work for the public. This meant the creation of a new imprint for the Press, also called the Medici Society, specializing in limited editions of selected books. William Flint soon became one of their primary illustrators, working on W. S. Gilbert's Savoy Operas (1909, Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur (1910-1911), Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (1912) and Homer’s The Odyssey (1924). Before the First World War, he also illustrated a number of books for Philip Lee Warner, one of the founders of the Medici Society, as well as a series of librettos for Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.
Simultaneously with his work as an illustrator, William Flint continued to hone his skill as a painter. In 1912 he received his first major recognition of this artwork. Flint moved to Rome where he rented a studio on the grounds of the Villa Strohl-Fern next to the Villa Borghese. He also visited Venice and Tuscany. While in Italy, the artist painted genre scenes, landscapes and cityscapes.
He returned to London in 1914 and continued to work as an illustrator for weekly magazines, while also improving his painting. Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, Flint found himself serving as a lieutenant with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. From 1916 till 1918 he worked with the Royal Naval Air Service; and between 1918 and 1919 he was the Admiralty Assistant Overseer on HM Airship R34.
World War I had a serious effect on Flint and his oeuvre. Following the war he returned full time to his career as an artist. The decade of the 1920s saw an increasing interest from collectors in Flint’s watercolours and oil paintings. His watercolours were especially popular, in part because they were more affordable for middle class patrons and in part because of their high quality. William Flint's first show in the United States took place at the Art Institute of Chicago in April 1922. He received good reviews and continued to exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago throughout the 1920s.
The artist made a trip to Spain in 1921. He spent some time traveling and painting in the Guadarrama mountain range north and west of Madrid. Flint made a commitment to document the life of ordinary people and the customs that he feared would all soon disappear in the wake of sweeping social change. As the decade moved on, William Flint’s interest gradually shifted from illustration to painting.
In 1925 Flint moved to Peel Cottage in Campden Hill, London, where he would remain here for the rest of his life. It became his home base as he and his family travelled extensively up until 1939. During the inter-war period, William Flint continued to explore France, creating numerous cityscape and landscape paintings. Meanwhile, Flint’s reputation among his peers in London was growing. In 1936 he became the president of the prestigious Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour; he held in this post until 1946.
During the Second World War, Flint and his family temporarily moved to a turkey farm near Totnes, Devon. Life resumed a more normal rhythm with a return to Peel Cottage. Throughout the 1950s, Flint worked on new paintings, exhibited and continued to travel. Around 1960 William Flint began to write his autobiography, which was published posthumously in April 1970.
The early 1960s were highlighted by a special exhibition of William Flint’s artworks at the Diploma Galleries at the Royal Academy in 1962. He was one of only six Royal Academicians who ever received this honour. The retrospective included many of his best known art pieces, many of them were borrowed from private collectors. Later that year, William Flint returned to France, having another painting trip; still healthy and fit, he persevered in the work. Flint was active as an artist until his death.
Evelina, Mirabel and Alice on Bamburgh Sands (Northumberland)
Stella
How Sir Launcelot and His Kinsmen Rescued the Queen from the Fire
Study for Andromeda
Cecilia
Amythist
Jour De Fete a Maintenon
Two nudes
Sketch for a Flying Figure
A Peaceful Autumn Afternoon
Then in amaze she went back to her chamber, for she laid up the wise saying of her son in her heart
Apollo Finds Aphrodite with Aries in the Mansion of Hephaestus
The sphinx guarded bridge, Studley Royal, Yorkshire
The peaceful estuary
A Blue Day, St. Malo
Design for marble paper
Chateau Gaillard near Petit Audeley Seine
The Miller's Daughters, Geroanne
Rosalba
San Geremia, Grand Canal, Venice
Hermione
Twilight in the Garonne Valley
Euphoria
A Question of Colour
Madame S
Amazon with a Sabre
An untitled French coastal view with figures
Romira and two children
A well amid the Guadarrama Mountains
Membership
William Flint was elected to membership in the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in 1912. In 1924 he became an Associate of the Royal Academy, receiving full membership in 1933. In 1931 Flint joined the Royal Society of Painters, Etchers and Engravers. He became a member of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour in 1936.
Royal Institute of Oil Painters
,
United Kingdom
1912
Royal Academy of Arts
,
United Kingdom
1924
Royal Society of Painters, Etchers and Engravers
,
United Kingdom
1931
Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour
,
United Kingdom
1936
Connections
Father:
Francis Wighton Flint
Mother:
Jane Flint
Sister:
Charlotte Elizabeth Flint
Brother:
Robert Turvis Flint
References
Sir William Russell Flint
This book reproduces a wide range of work from the Victorian Scottish watercolour painter, Sir William Russell Flint. It also includes text which deals with the paradoxes of the artist's life and work.
The Artist's Model: From Etty to Spencer
From being regarded as little more than a piece of apparatus to providing inspiration, the role of the artist's model in the 19th and 20th centuries changed. The author examines the studio, the artistic training, and the cult of the model in this study.