Rowland Wheelwright (Australian painter) 1867 - 1955
Rowland Wheelwright was a painter of naturalistic genre scenes and showed a particular delight in painting bathing girls; he also painted rural scenes with horses, as well as historical and classical subjects. Born in Ipswich, Australia, Rowland was the grandson of John Hawden Wheelwright, a court painter in Brussels. His parents were sheep farmers; however due to a drought in Australia circa 1880, they decided to return to England. In 1891, Wheelwright entered the Herkomer School of Art at Bushey and later continued his studies at the royal Academy Schools. For much of his life he lived at Meadow Brook in Bushey and had one of the Meadow Studios, where he worked. For much of his life he lived at Meadow Brook in Bushey and had one of the Meadow Studios, where he worked. He was a prolific artist and exhibited at many of the principal London venues including the Royal Academy, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the Royal Society of British Artists. Wheelwright was also an illustrator and provided the illustrations for Longman's Swan edition of Shakespeare's King Henry V and Harrap's editions of Ivanhoe, The Talisman, Lorna Doone, and The Three Musketeers.
