Sir William Russell Flint (4 April 1880 – 30 December 1969) was a Scottish artist and
illustrator who was known especially for his watercolour paintings of women. He also
He was born in Edinburgh. From 1894–1900 Flint apprenticed as a lithographic draughtsman
while taking classes at the Royal Academy of Art, Edinburgh. From 1900–02 he worked
as a medical illustrator in London while studying part-time at Heatherley's Art School. He
furthered his art education by studying independently at the British Museum. He was an artist
for the Illustrated London News from 1903–07, and produced illustrations for editions of
several books, including Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (1912).
Flint was president of Britain’s Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours (now the
Royal Watercolour Society) from 1936 to 1956, and knighted in 1947.
During visits to Spain he was impressed by Spanish dancers, and he depicted them
frequently throughout his career.
Flint enjoyed considerable commercial success but little
respect from
art critics, who were disturbed by a perceived crassness in his
eroticized
treatment of the female figure
William Russell Flint was active as an artist until his death in London on 30 December 1969.
