Walter Dexter (12 June 1876 – 12 February 1958) was an English artist, painting in oil and watercolour. He lived in

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

for much of his life, and many of his pictures show the area.

Life

Dexter was born in

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

in Northamptonshire, son of Walter Sothern Dexter, a photographic artist, and his wife Emily. The family came from

; they returned there, and Walter was educated in the town. He was also taught to paint by Henry Baines (1823–1894; a well-known artist of West Norfolk and brother of

Thomas Baines (John) Thomas Baines (27 November 1820 – 8 May 1875) was an English artist and explorer of British colonial southern Africa and Australia. Life and work Born in King's Lynn, Norfolk, on 27 November 1820, Baines was apprenticed to a coach ...

)."Walter Dexter – Painter"
East Winch and West Bilney community project. Retrieved 14 April 2020."Dexter, Walter"
Suffolk Artists. Retrieved 14 April 2020."Lynn Museum: art collection"
Norfolk Museums. Retrieved 14 April 2020. From 1892 to 1897 he trained at the

Birmingham School of Art The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Faculty of Arts, Design a ...

, and also studied in Belgium and Holland, afterwards returning to King's Lynn. In 1915 he married Helen Chadwick; they had no children. He was an art teacher at

Bolton Grammar School Bolton School is an Independent school (UK), independent day school in Bolton, Greater Manchester. It comprises a co-educational nursery, co-educational infant school (ages 3–7), single sex junior schools (ages 7–11) and single sex senior sc ...

from 1916 to 1920. From 1941 to 1944 he was art teacher at

King Edward VII School, King's Lynn King Edward VII Academy (known as KES Academy) is a large, mixed comprehensive secondary school in Gaywood Road ( A148), King's Lynn, Norfolk, England with around 1,300 pupils, including about 300 in sixth form education. Prior to the school ye ...

. He was a member of the Norfolk and Norwich Art Circle from 1902 to 1955, and 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 ...

A Literary Pilgrim in England - SLAUGHDEN QUAY

Dexter painted in oil and watercolour, painting landscapes, including many of the King's Lynn area; also interiors, portraits and still life; he exhibited in many galleries. His picture ''The Carpenter's Workshop'', an oil painting of 1904, has been regarded as his best work. He wrote regularly about Norfolk for the ''East Anglian Evening News'' and the ''

Eastern Daily Press The ''Eastern Daily Press'' (''EDP'') is a regional newspaper covering Norfolk, northern parts of Suffolk and eastern Cambridgeshire, and is published daily in Norwich, UK. Founded in 1870 as a broadsheet called the ''Eastern Counties Daily ...

''. Also working as a commercial artist, he illustrated books and produced posters. He died in 1958, as a result of a collision with a motorcyclist while crossing a road in King's Lynn.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dexter, Walter 1876 births 1958 deaths People from Wellingborough People from King's Lynn 20th-century English painters Pedestrian road incident deaths English watercolourists