Sir William Russell Flint

Russell Flint was often described as the doyen of English water-colour painting of his day. In his paintings he almost unfailingly achieved his end, which was to portray decorous Bohemian sensuality in his figures and an idealised wonderland in his landscapes. He was fortunate to receive critical acclaim and recognition during his lifetime. At the time of his election to the Royal Academy, watercolorists had seldom been eligible for admission to this select body. Flint, however, went from being a Member to a Trustee in 1943, and four years later he was knighted. Born in Edinburgh in 1880, William Russell Flint was the eldest son of Francis Wighton Flint, a watercolorist and commercial designer. At the age of 14, Russell Flint took up an apprenticeship with a firm of printers whilst attending evening art classes at the Royal Institute School of Art. In 1900 he came to London and became a medical illustrator. He then went on to become a staff artist for the Illustrated London News for four years. It was during this period that Flint attended evening art classes at Heatherley's Art School. A fellow student introduced him to Sybylle Sueter as a model, with whom Flint instantly fell in love and whom he married in 1905. The next two decades saw Flint turn from black and white illustration to colour and receive official recognition from the exhibiting societies. He went on to become an Honorary Member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water-colours and President of the Royal Society of Painters in Water-colours; this position he held for 20 years. In all his 89 years, Flint's artistic career was only interrupted once, with the outbreak of the First World War, during which he became a captain in the Royal Air Force. In his autobiography, Flint said: "On getting out of uniform in February 1919, I found that so many people wanted my water-colours that I ceased to be an illustrator and became a painter. From 1919 to the present day I have lived by my brush, still in pursuit of my own undefinable ideal."