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Sir William Russell Flint, watercolour artist was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on April 4, 1880, to Jane
Flint, one of Scotland's first woman civil servants, and to Francis Wighton Flint, a ticket writer and skilled illuminator. He first attended
school at Miss Clinkscales' Seminary at Portobello, advanced to Daniel
Stewart's College for Boys in Edinburgh, and later studied at the Royal
Institute of Art at Edinburgh. Between 1894 and 1900 Flint served an
apprenticeship as a lithographic artist and designer in a printing house
in Edinburgh. In 1900 he went to London, combining work, first as a
medical illustrator (1900-1902), and later as a commercial designer and
magazine illustrator (1902-1907), and attending Heatherley's Art School.
As a magazine illustrator Flint worked for The Illustrated London News
from 1903 until 1907. During this period, William Russell Flint met and
married Sibylle Sueter, daughter of Fleet Paymaster J. T. Sueter. In 1907
Russell Flint became a freelance artist and by 1914 had become an
Associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours. During World
War I Flint was commissioned as a lieutenant and rose to the rank of
captain in the Royal Air Force. Following his military service, Flint's
career as an artist advanced rapidly. His artwork was exhibited regularly
at the Royal Academy and other public venues, and was also acquired by
prominent national and international museums. Flint's many successful
one-person exhibitions featured his landscapes of English, Scottish, and
Provençal country scenes and his figure compositions. William Russell
Flint was made Associate of the Royal Academy in 1924 and a full
Academician in 1933. William Russell Flint also gained recognition for his
work in dry-point engraving and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
of Painter-Etchers and Engravers in 1933. Additionally, Flint was
interested in typography, book design, and illustration. He illustrated
several classics for Riccardi Press, including an edition of the
Canterbury Tales. Works by the artist, who received a knighthood in 1947,
are available in the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and
many public museums in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Sir
William Russell Flint died on December 30, 1969 at the age of 89. He was
survived by his son, Francis Murray Russell Flint, also a painter.
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