John William Waterhouse (1849-1917) was an English painter.
Waterhouse spent his early years in Italy, which scholars credit as the reason for his later focus on Classical subject matter. His early work was done in the Academic style (a European style that drew greatly on Neoclassicism and Romanticism) but he later transitioned to the style of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (a movement that emphasized the bright colors and naturalistic details of 1400's Italian art). The contrast between the two can be envisioned in his two takes on Miranda from The Tempest, the 1875 version
◊ leans more Academic, while the 1916 one
◊ is fully Pre-Raphaelite.
His paintings are known for their romantic, wistful women and depictions of scenes from Classical Mythology, Arthurian Legend, and famous events from history.
Waterhouse's artworks:
- The Lady of Shalott (1888)
- Circe Invidiosa (1892)
- Hylas and the Nymphs (1896)
Tropes in his works:
- Femme Fatale: The dangerous woman who had ensnared a man was a common theme in Waterhouse's portfolio, and he often painted examples of proto-femme fatales (drawing from myths and legend). Some common topics were sirens, lamia, and nymphs attracting unsuspecting men, beautiful women with such reputations like Cleopatra, and spurned sorceresses from myth (Circe and Medea). Embodied by the painting La belle dame sans merci, titled after John Keats's ballad about the archetype. His later work began depicted less threatening and more romantic women; by the time he returns to Circe in The Sorceress she's pensive and intelligent instead.
- Flowers of Femininity: Expect to see women wearing flowers in their hair, hanging out in flower gardens (Saint Cecilia, Gathering Summer Flowers in a Devonshire Garden, The Soul of the Rose), in nature surrounded by flowers (Ophelia, Windflowers, Spring Spreads One Green Lap of Flowers), or holding bouquets (the Gather Ye Rosebuds series).
- A Love to Dismember: He made a version of Isabella and the Pot of Basil from Decameron, painting Isabella embracing the pot where her dead lover's head is contained.
- Magical Barefooter: The sorceress in The Magic Circle is depicted doing her spells barefoot; it is implied that her powers are related to nature.
- Our Nymphs Are Different: Painted several depictions of nymphs as as beautiful, long-haired women who hung around nude in bodies of water until some unsuspecting man showed up.
- Our Sirens Are Different:
- Ulysses and the Sirens depicts them as bird-like creatures with the heads of women disturbing Ulysses and company.
- The Siren depicts a beautiful woman (part sea-creature, indicated by her legs) holding a lyre as she watches a man drown beneath her.
- Pink Means Feminine: His later subjects were frequently wearing pink dresses, be they the plucky and beautiful romantic heroine Psyche, the seductive and shapeshifting lamia, the women collecting flowers in Gather Ye Rosebuds Why Ye May and Spring Spreads One Green Lap of Flowers, the intelligent beauty of Circe in The Sorceress, the spurned nymph Echo, the strongwilled wife and mother Penelope, or the tragic queen of legend Isolde.
- Reclining Venus: Dolce far Niente shows a woman reclining sideways on a couch, although she is clothed.
- Snakes Are Sexy: Had a couple paintings depicting the lamia, a creature half beautiful and seductive woman, half snake.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: He painted scenes from the myths of Cupid and Psyche (a woman and her husband separated by Aphrodite's wrath), Pyramus and Thisbe (two lovers separated by a wall), and Tristan and Isolde (lovers separated by medieval politics).
- Unrequited Tragic Maiden:
- The Lady of Shalott, loosely based on the Elaine of Arthuriana who pined after Lancelot to no avail, depicts the moment when the Lady loosens the chain of her boat to drift away down the river. Waterhouse also painted two other depictions of the same character.
- Echo and Narcissus, based on the myth, shows a lovely young nymph despairing that Narcissus is too preoccupied with himself to love her back. As the story goes, she would eventually waste away.
- Water Is Womanly: Loved to paint women romantically associated with water, whether it be water-related mythological figures (Hylas and the Nymphs, Undine, A Naiad, The Siren, The Mermaid) or women emoting near bodies of water (Miranda, The Lady of Shalott, Circe Invidiosa, Echo and Narcissus, Ophelia).
