Walter Westley Russell: Portraits with Background Pictures

Sir Walter Westley Russell (1867-1949) is yet another competent English painter I am including on this blog: the supply of same seems inexhaustible.

A brief biography is here. Even though Russell is not well known these days, he was noteworthy enough in his time to be knighted.

Like many English contemporaries, his style changed little over his career. Based on images found on the Internet, he tended to make paintings with a warm (in the color sense) feeling, though there are some that differ. It seems he liked to portray women. A quirk in many of those portraits was his use of backgrounds with green-blue wallpaper containing many small elements in other colors. Besides similar or identical background wallpaper, Russell usually included framed pictures hanging on those walls. Doubtless these details were from his house or studio.

Gallery

Dover
Russell did some landscape painting.

Joseph Crawhall
Crawhall was one of the Scottish "Glasgow Boys" group of painters.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding - 1942
"Stuffy" Dowding was in charge of aerial defenses during the Battle of Britain.

Camilla - c. 1910
A carefully done background, but no wallpaper in this comparatively early work.

The Blue Dress - 1911
Still no wallpaper, but there are pictures on the background wall, so we're getting closer.

Amelia - c. 1937
A late portrait with wallpaper and pictures.

Girl in a Muslin Dress
I don't have a date for this, but the background is archetypical Russell.

Marion
Again.

Cordelia - c. 1930
And again.

Isabella
Here Russell adds a mirror, but the standard background remains.

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