Brown Bears
Watercolor by William Walls

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Brown Bears
Walls Bears
Walls Bears
William Walls, R.S.A., R.S.W (1860-1942)
Brown Bears
Watercolor on paper mounted on board
Signed lower right; signed and titled verso in pencil (possibly in artist's hand): Wm. Walls, R.S.A., R.S.W., Brown Bears.
10 x 12.5 inches watercolor
10.5 x 13 inches board overall
Sold, please inquire as to the availability of similar items.

A male and a female brown bear walk on a rocky cliff, rendered in a loose painterly style.

William Walls was best known as an animal painter and watercolorist. A member of the Edinburgh Academy, he studied at the Royal Scottish Academy schools where he won the Keith Prize for life drawing; a painting from 1907 is in their collection. He also studied at the Antwerp Academy, where he began making studies of animals in the zoos in Antwerp and London at a time when animal painting became very popular in England. He exhibited his work in London as early as 1887. In 1892, Andrew Carnegie commissioned animal portraits from him. A member of the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Society of Watercolorists, he became an esteemed teacher at Edinburgh College of Art. Walls also served twice as judge for the Edinburgh Photographic Society Open Exhibition, in 1924 and 1937.

References:

Bénézit, E. Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs. France: Librairie Gründ, 1966. Vol. 8, p. 659.

"EPS Open Exhbition Judges 1911-1940." Edinburgh Photographic Society. http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/4/4_eps_exhibitions_judges_open_1911.htm 13 May 2004).

"Study of a lion and a lioness." Calton Gallery. http://www.caltongallery.co.uk/artwork/artwork.php3?txtID=267 (13 May 2004).