Walter Daniel Batley

Walter Daniel Batley (1850 – 29 September 1936) was a Suffolk artist based in Ipswich. After receiving his art education, he painted some portraits but landscapes soon became his preferred subject. He exhibited at several venues in England and also in Paris. Batley regularly submitted work to the Royal Academy, and he was a founding member of the Ipswich Fine Art Club. He enjoyed travelling and painting throughout England, although East Anglia remained his favourite locale. Starting in the 1890s, his method of painting evolved towards a freer and more atmospheric style. His work is held in three public collections, and a retrospective was mounted in 1988 at Christchurch Mansion.

Early life

Walter Daniel Batley was born in 1850, the second son of a house decorator. As a result of catching smallpox as a boy, Walter and his mother moved to Felixstowe in 1860, while still maintaining a home in Ipswich. He studied at the Ipswich School of Art from 1868 to 1873, a classmate of Frederick George Cotman and William Robert Symonds. During the same year he won South Kensington's gold medal for a black and white drawing based on an antique cast figure. In 1878, he married Catherine (Katie) Emily Bird in Ipswich, where they settled. The couple had five children together. Other locales where his work was shown include the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, the Manchester City Art Gallery, and the Royal Society of British Artists. He was a founding member of the Ipswich Fine Art Club, where he exhibited from 1874 until 1935. In its inaugural exhibition he showed several town and cityscapes. During the same year, he had a particular success at the Royal Academy, for a painting entitled "The Old Craig Pit", located outside Ipswich. The work was described as "among the most artistic landscapes here".

He made occasional trips to Cornwall, Yorkshire, and Derbyshire. However, it was the quality of the light and skies of East Anglia which were best represented in his landscapes. A successful operation in 1919 restored his failing eyesight due to glaucoma. Batley died on 29 September 1936, while convalescing after a major operation. His wife followed three years later. He won praise from the artist Stanhope Forbes, A major retrospective of his artwork was held at Christchurch Mansion in 1988.

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