Wilfrid Williams Ball RE ROI (1853-1917) - Etching Off the Tower

Description

A small etching of the River Thames with the Tower of London visible in the distance. Ball gained his first substantive notice when James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) admired the Thames Etchings, of which this etching forms a part, in 1881-82. Presented glazed in a cream washline mount and gilt-effect wooden frame. Inscribed in plate with the location to the lower-right edge. Signed in plate to the lower-left edge. On wove.

Condition

There is some discolouration and foxing. Overall in good condition.

Size

18.8 x 22cm (7.4" x 8.7")

Artist Biography

Wilfrid Williams Ball (1853-1917) was a painter and etcher, born in London and educated at Hackney Grammar School. While training to become an accountant he devoted much spare time to artistic interests. After exhibiting at the RA he gave up his accountancy studies and devoted himself full-time to his painting in 1877, traveling extensively in Europe and the Middle East. He exhibited at RA, RBA, RE, RI and held several solo exhibitions at the FAS. He was elected to the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in 1882 and to the ROI in 1889. In 1916 he returned to accountancy and was sent to North Africa on behalf of the army. He worked in Cairo and then in Khartoum, where he died on 14 February 1917.