William Sharp
William Sharp was born in 1855 in Belfast, Ireland. He attended Clifton College in Bristol and then went to the Royal Academy of Arts in London. He also studied at the Académie Julian in Paris. His artistic career began in London, and later he moved to Florence where he resided for the rest of his life. He was an oil painter, watercolourist, and miniaturist. As a painter, he mainly painted portraits, figures, portraits in the Pre-Raphaelite style, and still lifes.
Sharp was strongly influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, particularly the works of William Dyce and Millais’s Ophelia. He painted landscapes and seascapes influenced by the Impressionists, such as Claude Monet. He mainly used deep blues, greens and browns to show the atmospheric and weather conditions, with highlights of whites, pinks and yellows.
Sharp began exhibiting his work in 1875, but he is perhaps best known for the work he did in the 1890s and early twentieth century, which consisted mainly of figure paintings and still lifes. He married Irene Solari in 1893, who was an Italian aristocrat; it was during his marriage that his works took on a more distinctly Italian style. His major works include ‘The Madonnas of Florence’ series, which depicted the venerations of Mary in Florence.
Sharp was a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours and a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy, the Grosvenor Gallery and the Dowdeswell Galleries until his death. He was a mentor to many painters; among those he most influenced was Anna Airy, who worked as his assistant for many years and went on to become a successful painter in her own right.
In 1913, Sharp died in Florence at the age of fifty-eight. He was buried in the Florence English Cemetery. His lasting legacy was his beautiful and atmospheric works, which are admired and appreciated by many today. From his seascapes and landscapes to his figure paintings and still lifes, his works capture the beauty and wonder of the world which still resonates with viewers.
