Sir William Russell Flint, best known for his watercolour treatments of the female form was the Artist Laureate to Queen Victoria towards the close of her reign. It is rather sad that, whilst in his day he was well known and highly regarded; his work today is largely unknown. You can see the influence of the artists of the Pre-Raphaelite era in his work and in turn I see elements of his style in the work of ‘fantasy’ artist s such as Boris Vallejo – particularly in their treatment of the female ‘hero’ figure although I find Flints work in this respect much more sensual and subtle.

Some of his finest illustrative work can be found in the 1921 publication of Sir Thomas Mallory’s compilation of French and English Arthurian romances Le Morte D’Arthur. Originally completed in 1470 it was first printed in 1485 by Caxton who separated it into chapters for easy reading.

The aspect of these watercolors I really like is the way that he really seems to ‘capture the moment’. They are not static in any way – almost as if a photograph has been taken in midst of a scene of action. Its as if I can imagine the subjects continuing to move into the next ‘scene’. This, I suppose is the the ultimate compliment for a book illustrator – to have the ability to capure what is happening in a story in an image is a great skill. Anyway, I love these illustrations and just wanted to share a few of them with you.

You can see more of Flints work plus illustrations from other vintage Arthurian books here