William Robert Symonds (1851 – 7 November 1934) was an English painter. He specialised in genre scenes, often sentimental, or involving children and animals.

Life

Born in

Yoxford Yoxford is a village in East Suffolk, England, close to the Heritage Coast, Minsmere Reserve (RSPB), Aldeburgh and Southwold. It is known for its antique shops and (as "Loxford") for providing the setting for a Britten opera. The name 'Yoxfor ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, he studied in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

and settled in London in 1881. He exhibited regularly 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 ...

from 1876. His son was the architect and furniture expert Robert Wemyss Symonds.Symonds, R. W. (Robert Wemyss), 1889-1958 research papers.
The Winterthur Library. Retrieved 31 May 2017.

Works

Symonds painted the originals for some famous prints, the most notable being ''Heather'', painted c. 1909. His paintings hang in the

Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wallace, who built the extensive collection, along w ...

in London and

Christchurch Mansion Christchurch Mansion is a substantial Tudor brick mansion house built in Ipswich, Suffolk by Edmund Withypoll (also written "Withipoll") around 1548–50. The Grade I listed building is located within Christchurch Park and sits by the souther ...

. Twenty-two of his

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

portraits are in UK public collections, in particular Colchester and Ipswich Museums.

Paintings

* ''Heather'' * ''Girl with a Silver Fish''Girl with a Silver Fish
at www.ipswich.gov.uk * A painting of

Sir Richard Wallace Sir Richard Wallace, 1st Baronet (21 June 1818 – 20 July 1890), of Sudbourne, Sudbourne Hall in Suffolk, Hertford House in London, and of the Château de Bagatelle in Paris, was a British art collector and Francophile. Origins and youth Ric ...

, 1885 * Babes in the Wood * Family Group Portrait of Mr, Mrs and Master Hollond of Benhall Lodge, 1887 * His Lordship * Portret kobiety, 1901 * An illustration for ''

The Frog Prince "The Frog Prince; or, Iron Henry" (german: Der Froschkönig oder der eiserne Heinrich, literally "The Frog King or the Iron Henry") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 1). ...

'' * Portrait of Clarice H. Edwards as young girl, 1904 * Portrait of Mr Arthur Ross and Companion portrait of his wife * Indian Elephant, 1918

Notes

External links

* 1851 births 1934 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters People from Yoxford Royal Society of Portrait Painters 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists {{England-painter-stub