(1812 - 1908)
Watercolourist William Callow was born in Greenwich; the son of a master builder. At eleven he began working with landscapist Theodore Fielding. In 1829 he was sent to Paris to work with Fielding’s brother, Newton, before establishing his own atelier and later giving lessons to the family of King Louis Philippe. From the 1830s, he made regular walking and sketching tours through France, Germany and Switzerland. In 1841 he returned to London, where he became one of the best-known drawing masters. He was elected a full member of the Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1848 and continued to teach until 1882. Callow married twice, but had no children. A retrospective of his work was held at the Leicester Galleries in 1907. He died aged 95.
