English painter, draughtsman and writer on art. He was born into a German-Jewish family in Bradford. His father, Moritz, emigrated from Germany in 1859 to work in Bradford's burgeoning textile industry. Soon afterwards he married Bertha Dux and they had six children, of which William was the fifth. At the age of sixteen he studied at the Slade School of Art, London (1888–1893), where he was taught by Alphonse Legros, and the Académie Julian in Paris (1889–1893), where he met and was encouraged by James McNeill Whistler, Edgar Degas and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. Whilst in Paris he also befriended the Anglo-Australian artist Charles Conder, with whom he shared a studio in Montmartre. In 1893 he returned to England to work on "Oxford Characters" a series of lithographic portraits. He was also prolific as a painter. In the early 1900s his style gradually evolved towards brighter colours in response to Post-Impressionism, but he never incorporated its more advanced developments into his own art. Between 1902 and 1912 he lived in Hampstead, London, where his social circle included such names as H. G. Wells, Joseph Conrad and the artist Augustus John. Amongst the young artists to visit him in Hampstead were Mark Gertler and Paul Nash. During this period he worked on a series of important paintings in the predominantly Jewish East End of London, some of which were included in the influential 1906 exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquaries at the Whitechapel Gallery. During World War I, he was an Official War Artist to the British and Canadian armies on the Western Front, recording the devastation caused by war.
English painter, draughtsman and writer on art. He was born into a German-Jewish family in Bradford. His father, Moritz, emigrated from Germany in 1859 to work in Bradford's burgeoning textile industry. Soon afterwards he married Bertha Dux and they had six children, of which William was the fifth. At the age of sixteen he studied at the Slade School of Art, London (1888–1893), where he was taught by Alphonse Legros, and the Académie Julian in Paris (1889–1893), where he met and was encouraged by James McNeill Whistler, Edgar Degas and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. Whilst in Paris he also befriended the Anglo-Australian artist Charles Conder, with whom he shared a studio in Montmartre. In 1893 he returned to England to work on "Oxford Characters" a series of lithographic portraits. He was also prolific as a painter. In the early 1900s his style gradually evolved towards brighter colours in response to Post-Impressionism, but he never incorporated its more advanced developments into his own art. Between 1902 and 1912 he lived in Hampstead, London, where his social circle included such names as H. G. Wells, Joseph Conrad and the artist Augustus John. Amongst the young artists to visit him in Hampstead were Mark Gertler and Paul Nash. During this period he worked on a series of important paintings in the predominantly Jewish East End of London, some of which were included in the influential 1906 exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquaries at the Whitechapel Gallery. During World War I, he was an Official War Artist to the British and Canadian armies on the Western Front, recording the devastation caused by war.
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