Winifred Ethel Walker (1882-1965) was a British artist known for her botanical illustrations.

Biography

Walker was born at

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 ...

in north London, both her parents being school teachers from

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

. She attended the Camden School of Art where she won the King's Prize for Modelled Design and gained her Art Masters' Certificate and also spent time studying at Ghent. Walker became a botanical artist, painting in oils and watercolours. From 1929 to 1939 she was an official artist with the Royal Horticultural Society having been elected a Fellow of the Society in 1912 and throughout her career won over thirty medals with the Society. Her flower paintings were awarded a gold medal in Philadelphia and she also received awards at exhibitions in London and Paris. Walker was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society. From 1943, she was an artist in residence at the University of California. Walker exhibited works 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 ...

, with the Society of Women Artists, the

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI), initially called the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, is one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists, based in the Mall Galleries in London. History In 1831 the so ...

, the Fine Art Society, at the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

and at the

Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the ''Great Spring Show'',Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural ...

. She illustrated a number of botanical and gardening books, including ''Hardy Perennials'' (1922) by Albert Macself, ''The Low Road: hardy heathers and the heather garden'' (1927) by D Fyfe Maxwell and an edition of ''The Gardener's Assistant''. Walker wrote and illustrated ''All the Plants of the Bible'' (1957). Walker spent most of her career in London and died at Bognor Regis in Sussex in 1965.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Winifred 1882 births 1965 deaths 20th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists British botanical illustrators English women painters Painters from London Artists from London People from Hampstead 20th-century women painters