1838-1909
Brought to the United States as a child, Walter Shirlaw left school at an early age to work at watch engraving. As a teenager, he found employment as an engraver at the American Bank-Note Company, where he remained until the mid-1860s. Between 1857 and 1864, he also studied intermittently in the Antique and Life Schools of the National Academy, exhibiting at his first Annual in 1861. Shirlaw was not successful as a painter, however, and he spent the second half of the decade in Chicago, working again as an engraver. While there, he taught for a year at the Chicago Academy of Design.
Shirlaw left for study abroad in 1870. He avoided war-torn Paris and arrived in Munich, remaining some seven years. With American friends such as William Merritt Chase and Frank Duveneck, he spent time in Polling, Bavaria and Venice. During his long stay, he studied under a number of German teachers. Upon returning to New York in 1877, he gave instruction himself, as an early teacher at the Art Students League. Although Chase took over his class the following year, he remained on the League's faculty until 1891. An organizer of the Society of American Artists, he was elected its first president. Unlike his less outspoken colleagues in the Society, Shirlaw resigned from the National Academy in 1879, protesting its conservative policies.
During the 1880s, Shirlaw's work evolved from a dark Munich style to a more decorative, painterly manner employing a lighter palette. He became known for his unabashed devotion to the nude when it had not yet achieved widespread acceptance. In 1889, he worked as an illustrator for the eleventh U.S. census, observing western tribes of Native Americans. Otherwise, his work became increasingly confined to mural painting and stained glass designs. He executed one of the painted domes in the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 and contributed a series of panels on the sciences to the Library of Congress during the same period. Between 1894 and 1897, he served on the Academy's Council, embarking on a European trip at the end of his term. He died years later on a similar visit.
Note: Shirlaw's widow donated nearly 30 drawings by the artist to the National Academy of Design in 1911. Forty years later, Marcel Duchamp, acting as executor of the will of Katherine S. Dreier, a former student of Shirlaw, offered the Academy some 40 works by Shirlaw. Most were distributed to various museums, but some were retained by the National Academy.
Shirlaw left for study abroad in 1870. He avoided war-torn Paris and arrived in Munich, remaining some seven years. With American friends such as William Merritt Chase and Frank Duveneck, he spent time in Polling, Bavaria and Venice. During his long stay, he studied under a number of German teachers. Upon returning to New York in 1877, he gave instruction himself, as an early teacher at the Art Students League. Although Chase took over his class the following year, he remained on the League's faculty until 1891. An organizer of the Society of American Artists, he was elected its first president. Unlike his less outspoken colleagues in the Society, Shirlaw resigned from the National Academy in 1879, protesting its conservative policies.
During the 1880s, Shirlaw's work evolved from a dark Munich style to a more decorative, painterly manner employing a lighter palette. He became known for his unabashed devotion to the nude when it had not yet achieved widespread acceptance. In 1889, he worked as an illustrator for the eleventh U.S. census, observing western tribes of Native Americans. Otherwise, his work became increasingly confined to mural painting and stained glass designs. He executed one of the painted domes in the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 and contributed a series of panels on the sciences to the Library of Congress during the same period. Between 1894 and 1897, he served on the Academy's Council, embarking on a European trip at the end of his term. He died years later on a similar visit.
Note: Shirlaw's widow donated nearly 30 drawings by the artist to the National Academy of Design in 1911. Forty years later, Marcel Duchamp, acting as executor of the will of Katherine S. Dreier, a former student of Shirlaw, offered the Academy some 40 works by Shirlaw. Most were distributed to various museums, but some were retained by the National Academy.
