Original Circa 1950’s Watercolour Of Richmond Castle By William Parker 1922-2017

Original Circa 1950’s Watercolour Of Richmond Castle By William Parker 1922-2017


This is a large framed and glazed study which measures approx 65 x 51cm


There looks to be a brown spot possibly foxing to the central part of the study but it could be that it is part of the artwork. I have circled where I mean so please refer to last photo shared


Richmond Castle sits high on a cliff overlooking the River Swale in North Yorkshire, England. It was most likely built following the Battle of Hastings in 1066 by Alan Rufus, Alan the Red, of Penthièvre in the 1070s.


The artist has signed the artwork lower right


William Parker (1922 – 2017) was born in Keighley and educated at the the Holy Croft School. He showed artistic ability from an early age and at 13 was allowed to study art at Keighley Art School (Mechanics’ Institute) for a year on day release from school.


After leaving school, he found work in a local mill, where he stayed until 1942, when he served in the army as a Chindit in the WW2 Burma Campaign.


After the war, he began to paint when he was employed as a lamplighter in Oxenhope and was inspired by the Aire and Worth valleys. After the demise of gas lighting, he worked for the remainder of his working life with British Gas as a labourer based in Keighley, but again the outdoor nature of hs work gave him opportunity to observe the landscape, but it was only after he had retired in 1984 that he began to paint seriously.


His subjects were predominantly the land and townscape of the South Pennines and William’s work came to prominence when British Gas North Eastern’s employees and pensioners were invited to submit paintings for a 1991 British Gas calendar. The artist, Ashley Jackson, was invited to pick 12 images from paintings submitted, and among them were five watercolour landscapes by William.


The publicity from the calendar paintings helped William to sell more of his work through open exhibitions and commercial galleries. His artwork is now in private collections locally and internationally.


Will be well packaged and sent via 48hr courier