Collection: John William Waterhouse Prints

John William Waterhouse prints: heroines of myth and poetry

John William Waterhouse (1849–1917) was born in Rome and trained at the Royal Academy Schools in London, becoming a full Royal Academician in 1895. Painting decades after the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, he carried its love of poetry and legend into the 1900s, with a softer, more luminous brush. Each of his paintings captures a story at its most decisive moment. Read his life in John William Waterhouse, artist of myth and emotion.

The Lady of Shalott and the heroines of English poetry

The Lady of Shalott (1888) is his most famous painting: Tennyson’s heroine drifts towards Camelot in her boat, knowing that the curse will kill her. Waterhouse returned to her three times over his career. Poetry inspired him again with Lamia, after Keats, and Shakespeare with Miranda – The Tempest (1916).

Greek myths: nymphs, gods and enchantresses

Greek mythology gave him his greatest scenes. In Hylas and the Nymphs (1896), water nymphs draw the young Argonaut into their pool; Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses (1891) holds out her poisoned drink; Pandora and Psyche open forbidden boxes; and Echo and Narcissus (1903) tells of a love that cannot be returned.

Mermaids, winds and destiny

The Mermaid (1900), combing her hair on the rocks, was his diploma work for the Royal Academy. Boreas shows a young woman caught in the north wind, Destiny a woman raising a cup, and The Annunciation one of his rare religious subjects.

Hanging a Waterhouse print

Waterhouse’s greens, blues and warm skin tones suit a bedroom, a bathroom with water nymphs or a romantic living room. Pair two heroines facing each other in identical gilded or dark wooden frames, or build a series around the Lady of Shalott.

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