William Henry James Boot (1848 – 8 September 1918) was an English

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

and

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

artist, illustrator and author.

Biography

He was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England, going on to exhibit at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in London (from 1874 to 1884); and becoming 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 ...

. He worked for periodicals, including the ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication in ...

'' and ''

The Art Journal ''The Art Journal'' was the most important British 19th-century magazine on art. It was founded in 1839 by Hodgson & Graves, print publishers, 6 Pall Mall, with the title ''Art Union Monthly Journal'' (or ''The Art Union''), the first issue of 7 ...

''. Boot was also a member of

The Arts Club The Arts Club is a London private members' club founded in 1863 by, among others, Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and Lord Leighton in Dover Street, Mayfair. It remains a meeting place for men and women involved in the creative arts either ...

, who listed him as a "painter and writer on Gothic architecture". He painted landscapes in England, Europe and North Africa, and also provided illustrations for books (see below). Boot lived in London and married Emily who survived him (d. 1929). They were both buried in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

Illustrated books

*Boot, W H J.
Trees and How to paint them in watercolours
' (Cassell, 1883). *Mitford, Mary Russell.
Our Village
' ( Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, 1879). *Walford, Edward.
Greater London. A Narrative of Its History, Its People, and Its Places. Vol. 1
' (Cassell & Co., 1883), pp frontispiece, 49. *Walford, Edward.
Greater London. A Narrative of Its History, Its People, and Its Places. Vol. 2
' (Cassell & Co., 1883), pp 6,7, 13, 42, 43, 66, 84, 91, 115, 121, 150, 193, 198, 210, 235, 241, 252, 258, 271, 289, 295, 318, 330, 354, 360, 396, 420, 456, 462, 492, 511. *Weston, James.
A night in the woods and other tales and sketches
' (Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd., 1896).

Notes

References

*Wood, Christopher. ''Victorian Painters - Vol. 1'' (Suffolk: Antique Collectors Club, 1995). *Bénézit, E. ''Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs'' (Paris, 1956–61).

External links

(thevirtualtourofhampstead.co.uk) {{DEFAULTSORT:Boot, William Henry James 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters Landscape artists English illustrators Artists from Manchester 1848 births 1918 deaths English watercolourists 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists