William Lee-Hankey
British
1869-1952
Biography
William Lee-Hankey was a British painterand illustrator. He specialized in landscapes, character studies and portraitsof pastoral life and in particular studies of mothers with young children.
Lee-Hankey wasborn in in Chester, England, and worked as a designer after leaving school. Hestudied art in the evenings at the Chester School of Art, under WalterSchroeder, and later at the Royal College of Art in London. Lee-Hankey washeavily influenced by the work of Jules Bastien-Lepage, a French painter whowas closely associated with the beginning of the ‘Naturlism’ movement in art.
From the early1890s Lee-Hankey exhibited at numerous and notable art galleries, whichincluded the Leicester and Lefevre Galleries, the Royal Academy, the RoyalInstitute of Painters in Watercolours, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters aswell as the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers/Painter-Printmakers.He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1896 and in 1899 he became a memberof the Royal Institute and was President of the London Sketch Club from 1902 –1904.
He relocated to Francein the early 1900’s, painting many of his works in Brittany and Normandy. From1904 until well after World War I, maintaining a studio at the Etaples art colony.
Lee-Hankey’sdepictions of peasant life soon brought him international recognition. Writingin The Studio (Vol.XXXVI, No. 154, Jan. 1906) A. L. Baldry commentedthat, “He (Lee-Hankey) is in hiswater-colours an absolute purist; he paints entirely with transparent pigments,and never has recourse to opaque colours; his brushwork is broad and confident– free, on the one hand, from affectation of showy cleverness, and, on theother, from niggling minuteness or over-elaboration; and he does not insist, asis the fashion with many present-day painters, upon lowness of tone.”It was, however, his etchings that cemented his reputation as one ofBritain’s leading artists at theturn of the 20th century.
He wasdrafted into the Army during World War 1 serving in the Artists’ Rifles from1914 – 1916 before returning to painting at the close of war in France. Thework that was produced during his time in France mainly consisted of Frenchharbour scenes and country life, which provided him with a notable reputation.After witnessing the effects of the German invasion of France and Belgium in1914, Lee-Hankey’s work began to focus on the French refugees whose lives wererarely depicted in artistic circles.
Lee-Hankey’s workis represented in collections both in England and abroad, with works in theBritish Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum as well as several Britishprovincial galleries. His work is also exhibited in galleries in Budapest,Belfast and Vienna. In 1936 he became a member of the Royal Society of Paintersin Watercolors, and was elected president in 1947.
William Lee-Hankey died in London, Feb. 10, 1952.