Walter Frederick Osborne was an Irish🎨 Impressionist / Post-Impressionism landscape / portrait painter, best known for his documentary depictions of late 19th century working class life.
Most of his paintings are figurative and focus on women, children, the elderly, the poor, and the day-to-day life of ordinary people on Dublin streets, as well as series of rural scenes.
He also produced cityscapes, which he painted from both sketches and photographs.
A prolific artist, he produced oils, watercolors, and numerous pencil sketches.
Osborne's talent was evident as a young man and he traveled widely in his youth; studying at the Academie Royale des Beaux Arts in Antwerp.
He became a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy after an early showing.
Later, he spent time in rural England and Brittany, where he became acquainted with the style of the impressionists.
His main source of income was portraiture, landscapes and depictions of animals, but he is today better known for his documentary depictions of Ireland's working class poor.
Osborne had an engaging, charismatic personality and was well thought of in a variety of social circles.
He won the Taylor Prize🎨 in 1881 and 1882, the highest student honor in Ireland of the time, while studying at the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp.
He was influenced by the Flemish painter Rubens🎨, and the French realist, plein-air painter, Jules Bastien-Lepage🎨, as well as Berthe Morisot🎨.
In 1883, Osborne moved from Antwerp to Brittany where he painted his famous "Apple Gathering, Quimperlé"🎨, now in the National Gallery of Ireland.
Soon after, he moved to England where he worked alongside Nathaniel Hill and Augustus Burke at Walberswick.
During his period he often returned to Dublin to make preparatory sketches for what became his most renowned series, of the everyday lives of the city's poor.
Although highly regarded today, these documentary, street paintings were not commercially successful, and Osborne supplemented his income through portrait paintings of the middle class, which were not as artistically satisfying.
In 1886, he was elected to the Royal Hibernian Academy and received many commissions for portraits.
In 1892, he returned to Ireland to live in the family residence, and he also kept a studio at No. 7 St. Stephen's Green.
He spent a considerable amount of time painting outdoors, in Dublin around St. Patrick's Cathedral or in the country.
He was well liked in social circles and counted the surgeon Sir Thornely Stoker, brother of Bram Stoker, among his best friends.
He died from pneumonia at 43 years, before achieving his full potential.
Today he is regarded as a major Irish artist. | © Wikipedia
Walter Frederick Osborne è stato un pittore ritrattista impressionista / post-impressionista Irlandese🎨, meglio conosciuto per le sue rappresentazioni documentarie della vita della classe operaia della fine del XIX secolo.
La maggior parte dei suoi dipinti sono figurativi e si concentrano su donne, bambini, anziani, poveri e sulla vita quotidiana della gente comune per le strade di Dublino, oltre ad una serie di scene rurali.
Ha anche prodotto paesaggi urbani, che ha dipinto sia da schizzi che da fotografie.
Un artista prolifico, ha prodotto oli, acquerelli e numerosi schizzi a matita.
Il talento di Osborne era evidente da giovane e ha viaggiato molto in gioventù; studiando all'Academie Royale des Beaux Arts di Anversa.
È diventato un membro della Royal Hibernian Academy dopo una prima rappresentazione. Successivamente, trascorse del tempo nell'Inghilterra rurale ed in Bretagna, dove conobbe lo stile degli impressionisti.
La sua principale fonte di reddito era la ritrattistica, i paesaggi e le raffigurazioni di animali, ma oggi è meglio conosciuto per le sue rappresentazioni documentarie dei poveri della classe operaia irlandese. Osborne aveva una personalità accattivante e carismatica ed era ben considerato in una varietà di circoli sociali.
Morì di polmonite a 43 anni, prima di raggiungere il suo pieno potenziale.
Oggi è considerato uno dei maggiori artisti Irlandesi.
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