Lewis Charles Powles (29 January 1860 – 6 July 1942) was a British Artist. Powles was born in

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

, England, in January 1860, one of six children. (Document) His father was Rev. Henry C. Powles. He married Isabel Grace Wingfield on 21 January 1905. Their daughter, writer

Viola Bayley Viola Clare Bayley (8 January 1911 – January 1997) was a British children's writer of adventure stories. Life Viola Clare Wingfield Powles was born on 8 January 1911, in Rye, Sussex. Her parents were Isabel Grace Wingfield and Lewis C ...

, was born in 1911. Powles attended

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where he studied Mathematics under

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its seque ...

, better known as Lewis Carroll, author of ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...

''. Powles gained his MA from there in 1898. Powles had formal art studies under

Hubert von Herkomer Sir Hubert von Herkomer (born as Hubert Herkomer; 26 May 1849 – 31 March 1914) was a Bavarian-born British painter, pioneering film-director, and composer. Though a very successful portrait artist, especially of men, he is mainly remembered fo ...

, followed by studies in Munich. Powles was elected a member of the

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...

in 1903. Powles traveled extensively throughout Europe, as well as to Canada. His works are in the Bushey Museum and Art Gallery, the

Ferens Art Gallery The Ferens Art Gallery is an art gallery in the English city of Kingston upon Hull. The site and money for the gallery were donated to the city by Thomas Ferens, after whom it is named. The architects were S. N. Cooke and E. C. Davie ...

, the National Trust, Lamb House, the Royal Welch Fusiliers Regimental Museum, the

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, and the

Royal Collection Trust The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

. Powles is most well known for his watercolour landscapes, although he painted a number of oil portraits. Two of his watercolours were commissioned for the Library in Queen Mary's Doll House. In 1910, he painted English writer

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

, who was Powles' neighbour and friend in Rye. Powles was also an Associate Member of the

Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to condu ...

, and was very interested in paranormal events. In a letter, he once said that he was "somewhat easily impressed by the thoughts of others." Powles died in East Sussex in 1942.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powles, Lewis Charles 19th-century British artists 20th-century British artists 1860 births People from Cirencester Royal Society of Arts 1942 deaths