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Sir William Russell Flint RA RSW PRWS RE NS (1880-1969)

Sir William Russell Flint (1880-1943)

Russell Flint was born in Edinburgh on 4 April 1880. The son of a commercial artist, he was educated at Daniel Stewart's College and, in a six- year apprenticeship, at a firm of lithographers. During this period, he attended evening classes at the Royal Institution School and encountered the watercolours of Arthur Melville during regular visits to exhibitions. On completing his apprenticeship in 1900, he moved to London to work as a medical illustrator and, three years later, joined the staff of the Illustrated London News.

Developing his skills in illustration, in classes at Heatherley's, he absorbed the influence of Anning Bell and Byam Shaw and launched himself with the first edition of Rider Haggard's King's Solomon's Mines (1905). He was awarded a silver medal at the Paris Salon of 1913 for his superlative illustrations to Morte d'Arthur (1910-11), and received full recognition as a painter and illustrator with his election to the RI (1912) and as an associate of the RWS (1914; RWS 1917).

During a trip to Italy (1912-13), he began to take an interest in etching and, on his return, studied the subject at the Hammersmith School of Art. Though he continued to work with technical brilliance in various subject and media, his name became associated with a single genre: beautiful semi-nude models in Mediterranean settings. He was widely honoured: ARA 1924 (after hanging only three oils), RE 1931, RA 1933 and PRWS 1936-56. He received a knighthood in 1947.

Further reading: Arnold Palmer, More Than Shadows. A Biography of W Russell Flint, RA, London: The Studio, 1943

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