Walter Follen Bishop (1856-1936) stands as a notable figure among British landscape painters of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. Renowned particularly for his adeptness with watercolours, Bishop's work captured the nuanced beauty of the British countryside and coastal scenes, contributing to the rich tradition of landscape art in Britain. His career spanned a period of significant artistic change, yet he remained largely dedicated to a detailed, evocative realism that found favour with contemporary audiences and institutions.
Early Life and Artistic Foundations
Born in the bustling port city of Liverpool in 1856, Walter Follen Bishop emerged into a Britain at the zenith of its industrial and imperial power. This environment, rich with maritime activity and burgeoning urban landscapes, likely provided early, though perhaps indirect, visual stimuli. His formal artistic training was comprehensive and prestigious, reflecting a commitment to mastering the academic principles of art prevalent at the time.
Bishop's foundational education in the arts took place at the Liverpool School of Art, an institution that would have grounded him in the fundamentals of drawing and observation. Seeking to further hone his skills, he moved to London, the epicentre of the British art world. There, he enrolled at the esteemed Royal Academy Schools, a path taken by many aspiring artists aiming for recognition and success. The Royal Academy, then under the influence of figures like Lord Frederic Leighton and later Sir Edward Poynter, emphasized rigorous training in draughtsmanship and composition.
His pursuit of artistic excellence did not stop there. Bishop also attended the West London School of Art, further broadening his technical skills. Demonstrating an international outlook, he crossed the English Channel to study in Paris at the Académie Julian. This was a significant step, as Paris was a crucible of artistic innovation. The Académie Julian, in particular, was known for attracting international students and offering a more liberal alternative to the official École des Beaux-Arts, with renowned academic painters like William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Tony Robert-Fleury among its roster of instructors. This Parisian sojourn would have exposed Bishop to a wider range of artistic currents, even if his own style remained rooted in British traditions.
An Exhibiting Artist: Recognition and Reach
Walter Follen Bishop's career as an exhibiting artist began in earnest in the late 1870s. His public debut was at the Liverpool Autumn Exhibition in 1879, a significant regional showcase. This marked the beginning of a long and consistent presence in the British art exhibition circuit. From 1882, he began exhibiting at the prestigious Royal Academy of Arts in London, a critical venue for any artist seeking to establish a national reputation. He would continue to show his works there, with notable exhibitions recorded in 1884 and 1903, among other years.
His affiliation with the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art was also a significant aspect of his career. He became a member of this Welsh institution and was a frequent exhibitor at its annual shows. The catalogues of the Royal Cambrian Academy list numerous works by Bishop, attesting to his active participation and the esteem in which he was held within that artistic body. Titles such as "Homes by the Western Sea," "By laughing, shallow, shady pools," "The Road to the Sea," and "The Fisherman's Home" frequently appear, indicative of his thematic preoccupations.
Bishop's works were not confined to these major institutions. He also exhibited at other venues, ensuring his art reached a wide audience. The consistent exhibition of his watercolours helped to solidify his reputation as a skilled landscape painter, capable of capturing the atmospheric subtleties and picturesque qualities of the British Isles.
Artistic Style, Medium, and Thematic Focus
Walter Follen Bishop was, above all, a landscape painter, and his chosen medium was often watercolour. In the Victorian era, watercolour painting held a distinguished position in British art, with a lineage stretching back to artists like J.M.W. Turner and John Constable, who, though famed for oils, also produced masterful watercolours. Later figures such as Myles Birket Foster and Helen Allingham further popularized watercolour landscapes, creating a strong market and appreciation for the medium.
Bishop's style can be characterized by its commitment to realistic detail, combined with a sensitive handling of colour and light. His landscapes are not typically grand, sublime vistas in the early Romantic tradition, but rather more intimate portrayals of the countryside, coastal areas, and rural life. He possessed a keen observational skill, rendering foliage, water, and architectural elements with precision. His palette was often rich and nuanced, capturing the specific atmospheric conditions and the play of light across different textures.
His works often evoke a sense of tranquility and a deep appreciation for the natural beauty of Britain. Titles like "The last gleam of Sunlight" suggest an interest in capturing fleeting moments and the poetic qualities of light. While primarily a landscape artist, the human element was not entirely absent. Works like "The Fisherman's Home" or his reported representative piece, "Sending the Soldiers," indicate an engagement with narrative or genre scenes within a landscape context. "Sending the Soldiers," described as a work of 49cm x 75cm, likely depicted a scene related to military departures, a common theme in an era of imperial engagement, rendered with his characteristic "rich and delicate colours" and "realistic detail." Such a painting would have resonated with Victorian sensibilities, which often valued art that told a story or evoked patriotic or sentimental emotions.
The description of his work as "living history" and reflecting "all aspects of the 'Empire on which the sun never sets'" suggests that, at least in some interpretations, his art was seen as capturing a quintessential Britishness, a visual record of the nation's character and environment during a period of global dominance.
Personal Life and Artistic Connections
In 1889, Walter Follen Bishop married Florence Harriet Fitzgerald. This union connected him to another artistic family, as Florence was the daughter of John Anster Fitzgerald (c. 1819–1906), a notable Victorian painter celebrated for his highly imaginative fairy paintings and dream-like scenes. John Anster Fitzgerald, often nicknamed "Fairy Fitzgerald," was a contemporary of artists like Richard Dadd and produced intricate, fantastical works that stood in contrast to Bishop's more naturalistic landscapes.
This familial connection to the Fitzgeralds likely integrated Bishop more deeply into the London art community. It's known that works by John Anster Fitzgerald, his daughters Edith and Florence (who was also an artist and sculptor), and Walter Follen Bishop were later sold as part of a family collection, indicating a shared artistic lineage and mutual regard. While Bishop's style differed significantly from his father-in-law's, the association underscores the interconnectedness of the Victorian art world.
Beyond this significant family tie, Bishop's professional life was characterized by his memberships in artistic societies like the Royal Cambrian Academy and his consistent participation in exhibitions. These activities would have brought him into contact with a wide array of contemporary artists. The Royal Academy, for instance, was a hub for artists such as Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, known for his classical scenes, Luke Fildes, who painted powerful social realist works like "Applicants for Admission to a Casual Ward," and Benjamin Williams Leader, a highly popular landscape painter whose work, like Bishop's, often focused on the British countryside.
The Broader Victorian and Edwardian Art Context
Walter Follen Bishop worked during a dynamic period in British art. The High Victorian era, with its emphasis on narrative, detail, and moral sentiment, was exemplified by the Pre-Raphaelites like Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais (who later became President of the Royal Academy) in its earlier phases, and by classical revivalists like Leighton and Alma-Tadema. Landscape painting continued to be immensely popular, evolving from the Romanticism of Turner to the more detailed, naturalistic approaches of the mid to late Victorians.
By the time Bishop was establishing his career, new influences were emerging. The Aesthetic Movement, championed by artists like James McNeill Whistler and Albert Moore, prioritized "art for art's sake," focusing on beauty and formal qualities over narrative. Whistler, an American-born artist active in London and Paris, famously clashed with the critic John Ruskin over his atmospheric "Nocturnes," signaling a shift in artistic priorities for some.
Across the Channel, Impressionism had revolutionized French painting in the 1870s and 1880s, with artists like Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro emphasizing capturing fleeting moments of light and colour with broken brushwork. While British art was generally slower to embrace full-blown Impressionism, its influence began to be felt, particularly through artists who had studied in Paris or were part of groups like the New English Art Club, which included figures such as Philip Wilson Steer and Walter Sickert, who were more receptive to French modernism.
Bishop, however, appears to have remained largely within the established traditions of British landscape watercolour painting. His detailed realism and focus on picturesque scenery aligned well with the tastes of many patrons and the exhibition standards of institutions like the Royal Academy. This was a path chosen by many successful artists of his generation, who continued to find an appreciative audience for well-crafted, evocative depictions of familiar landscapes. Artists like Alfred Parsons, known for his beautiful garden and landscape scenes, or George Clausen, who depicted rural life with a blend of realism and atmospheric effect, also navigated this period, sometimes incorporating subtle influences from newer movements while retaining a core representational style.
"Burnside the Beautiful": A Literary Endeavour
Interestingly, Walter Follen Bishop is also credited with authoring a book titled "Burnside the Beautiful." While the provided information does not detail the content of this publication, its existence suggests a literary dimension to Bishop's creative output. It is not uncommon for artists to explore other forms of expression, and this book may have been a collection of essays, a travelogue related to his landscape subjects, or perhaps even a work of fiction or poetry inspired by the landscapes he so often painted.
Without further information on "Burnside the Beautiful," its specific nature and relationship to his artistic practice remain speculative. However, it adds another layer to our understanding of Bishop as a cultured individual with interests that potentially extended beyond the purely visual arts. This literary work might offer further insights into his perspectives on nature, beauty, and the places he depicted, had its contents been more widely known or discussed in the available records.
Later Career and Legacy
Walter Follen Bishop continued to paint and exhibit into the early 20th century. His presence in the Royal Cambrian Academy catalogues extends into the 1920s and even up to 1930, indicating a long and productive career that spanned the late Victorian, Edwardian, and early interwar periods. He passed away in 1936, having witnessed profound transformations in the art world, from the dominance of academic realism to the rise of Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, and Surrealism.
While Walter Follen Bishop may not be as widely recognized today as some of his more revolutionary contemporaries or the towering figures of earlier Victorian art, his contribution lies in his consistent and skilled production of landscape watercolours that captured the enduring charm of the British environment. His work is representative of a significant strand of British art that valued careful observation, technical proficiency, and an affectionate portrayal of the national landscape.
His paintings can be found in various collections, and they occasionally appear at auction, appreciated by those who value traditional British watercolour painting. His art serves as a visual record of the landscapes of his time, rendered with a sensitivity and skill that earned him respect among his peers and a place in the annals of British art. He was part of a cohort of artists, including figures like Stanhope Forbes of the Newlyn School (who focused on realistic depictions of coastal life), who documented the character of Britain and its people with dedication.
Conclusion: An Artist of His Time
Walter Follen Bishop was an artist deeply rooted in the traditions and sensibilities of his era. His education at prestigious institutions in Britain and Paris provided him with a strong technical foundation, which he applied to a lifelong dedication to landscape painting, primarily in watercolour. His works, characterized by their detailed realism, nuanced colour, and evocative portrayal of British scenery, found favour with the exhibiting societies and the art-buying public of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Through his marriage into the Fitzgerald family, he was connected to a vibrant artistic milieu. His consistent exhibition record, particularly at the Royal Academy and the Royal Cambrian Academy, underscores his active participation in the professional art world of his day. While perhaps not an innovator in the mould of the avant-garde, Bishop excelled within his chosen genre, contributing a significant body of work that reflects a deep appreciation for the natural world. His paintings offer a window into the landscapes and artistic tastes of Victorian and Edwardian Britain, securing his position as a skilled and respected chronicler of his environment. His legacy is that of a dedicated craftsman and a sensitive observer, whose art continues to offer pleasure and insight into a bygone era.
