William Knight Keeling (1807–1886) was a British (Victorian) artist, an illustrator of

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

's novels and

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's plays, a founder member and the third President of the

Manchester Academy of Fine Arts The Manchester Academy of Fine Arts (''MAFA'') was founded in 1859 by artists eager to promote art and education. It was originally based in the building on Mosley Street which is now Manchester Art Gallery where annual exhibitions and classes ...

Background and Career

Keeling 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 ...

. He was apprenticed to a wood-engraver, and in the 1830s went to London and became an assistant of

William Bradley (1801-1857) William Bradley (1801–1857) was an English portrait artist. Biography Bradley was born in Manchester, England. He was left an orphan when only three years of age. He started life as an errand boy, but his taste for drawing prevailed and at si ...

, a Manchester-born artist who moved to London in 1822 and established himself as a portrait painter. Keeling returned to Manchester in 1835, and worked as a portrait and figurative painter in oils and watercolour, and a drawing-master. From the 1830s he actively exhibited in Manchester, Liverpool and elsewhere. In 1833 his painting 'The Bird's Nest' was awarded the silver medal from the

Royal Manchester Institution The Royal Manchester Institution (RMI) was an England, English learned society founded on 1 October 1823 at a public meeting held in the Exchange Room by Manchester merchants, local artists and others keen to dispel the image of Manchester as a ...

. In 1841 he was elected a member of the New Society of Painters in Watercolours, where he exhibited about 60 works. In 1859 Keeling became a founder member of the

, and its third president from 1865 to 1877."History of Mafa: Past Presidents"
''Manchester Academy of Fine Arts'' website, accessed 11 November 2009 He was a member of the Manchester Literary Club and the Brasenose Club.

Spain

In the 1850s, following the notion of the day, he travelled to Spain. This journey gave him new ideas, subjects, and motifs. Delicate details and a clear and bright palette, inspired by the hot colours of the South, are distinctive features of his paintings and watercolours. In 1873 a Manchester newspaper praised one of his watercolours as ''"an exquisite work, perfectly Spanish"''. He also was influenced by works by the Spanish artist

Bartolomé Estéban Murillo Bartolomé may refer to: Places * Bartolomé Island (Spanish: Isla Bartolomé), a volcanic islet in the Galápagos Islands Group * Isla Bartolomé, Diego Ramirez Islands, Chile People * Bartolomé Bermejo (c.1440–c.1501), Spanish painter * Barto ...

(1617–1682). Murillo’s street children can be easily recognised in Keeling’s depictions of poor children, both British and Spanish. His ‘Spanish Boy’ exhibited in Manchester in 1876, was described as ''"a very good example of the careful and accurate method pursued by the artist. He is thoroughly conscientious in all his professional work."''

Works

Keeling did not strive for fame and glory, and remained in the background of the artistic life of his time, although many connoisseurs appreciated his works. Several of his works are in the collection of 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 ...

, London. In the 1870s,

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

industrialist and collector Sidney Cartwright purchased from a Manchester exhibition a large number of Keeling’s works. In 1887 they were given to

Wolverhampton Art Gallery Wolverhampton Art Gallery is located in the City of Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, United Kingdom. The building was funded and constructed by local contractor Philip Horsman (1825–1890), and built on land provided by the municipal auth ...

, which possesses today possibly the largest collection of Keeling’s paintings and watercolours in the United Kingdom.

Family

Keeling married Mary Ann Dettmer (b. 1822) at St Pancras 25 January 1851. They had four children: Edith (b. 1852), Dalton Harper (b. 1853), Sidney Charles (b. 1859), and Gertrude Ann (b. 1862). Keeling died on 21 February 1886 in his house at

Barton-upon-Irwell Barton upon Irwell (also known as Barton-on-Irwell or Barton) is a suburb of the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 12,462 in 2014. History Barton Old Hall, a brick-built house degraded to a farmhouse, was the se ...

References

Literature

* Dewsbury, Sheila, ''The Story So Far: Manchester Academy of Fine Arts 1859 - 2003'' * Wood, Christopher, ''The Dictionary of Victorian Painters''

External links

The exhibition 'William Knight Keeling: A British Artist Who Fell in Love With Spain' at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, 2007-2008.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keeling, William Knight 1808 births 1886 deaths English illustrators 19th-century English painters English male painters English watercolourists Members of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours 19th-century English male artists