Walter Withers

Walter Herbert Withers (22 October 1854 – 13 October 1914) was an English-born Australian landscape artist and a member of the Heidelberg School of Australian impressionists.

Biography Withers was born on 22 October 1854, at Handsworth, to Edwin Withers. His father objected to his becoming a professional painter.

During the period of his black and white work, Withers executed, in chalk, portraits for reproduction, that of the Count von Bismark being an especially fine example of his work in this direction. In his spare time Withers sought to cultivate his art, and eventually had work accepted for exhibition in the Old Academy, Melbourne.

In 1887, Withers went to Europe, and there he married Fanny Flinn in October. He and his wife settled in a small flat in Paris and he studied at the Académie Julian.

In 1890, Withers and his family moved into Charterisville Estate in East Ivanhoe.

Influence Withers's influence as a painter, upon younger art students of his time, was marked. His pupils included Percy Lindsay, and his younger brother Norman Lindsay.

He died in Eltham, Victoria, on 13 October 1914 and was outlived by his wife and four children, including Margery Withers, who was also a painter. He was buried at the Anglican Church of Saint Helena.

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