Note from Forty Years of 'Spy'

Fred Walker, then one of the visiting artists at the R.A. schools, was a man who possessed great[87] individuality, a highly strung and excessively nervous temperament, and, unfortunately, very bad health. It was the custom of the students, with whom he was very popular, to give an annual dinner, and about this time the toast of the evening was "Fred Walker." When his health was drunk, I remember he got up to reply, and found himself from sheer nervousness quite speechless, whereupon he murmured a scarcely audible "Thank you," and collapsed into his seat again. Du Maurier drew the character of "Little Billee" from this artist. He died young, and after his death his pictures fetched very high prices, especially some delicate and beautiful water colours. "The Haven of Rest," now in the Tate Gallery, is a poem on canvas, and it is also one of his most popular works, which will certainly live. Sir Hubert Herkomer was undoubtedly influenced by him in his earlier days. [Chapter III, "Mr Father's Friends," pp. 86-87]

Bibliography

Goedecker, Franz. "Painter, Sculptor, Blacksmith &c." (Hubert Von Herkomer, artist). "Men or Women of the Day No. 297." Chromolithograph. Vanity Fair. 26 January 1884.

Ward, Leslie ['Spy']. Forty Years of 'Spy'. London: Chatto and Windus, 1915.

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Created 28 July 2023