An Egyptian palace

William Walcot (1874-1943) was a British architect, graphic artist and etcher. Born in Odessa, he was notable as a practitioner of refined Art Nouveau (<em>Style Moderne</em>) architecture in Moscow - which had the misfortune to be condemned later as 'bourgeois decadence' by Communist Russia. His trademark Lady's Head keystone ornament became the easily recognisable symbol of the Russian Style Moderne.

Moving to Britain in 1906 following the early death of his wife, in the 1920s and 1930s, Walcot concentrated on graphic art and was widely praised as the best architectural draftsman in London. He was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists in 1913, as an associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers in 1916 and a Fellow of the RIBA in 1922. He was also an associate of the British School at Rome.

Walcot, along with contemporary Cyril Farey, was one of the most sought-after English architectural illustrators of the 1920s and 30s. Walcot developed his own impressionistic style in gouache and watercolour which won numerous commissions from Edwin Lutyens, Herbert Baker and Aston Webb. He also engaged in printmaking, creating reconstructions of ancient Greek, Roman, Babylonian and Egyptian buildings Tragically, Walcot's successful practice was ruined with the outbreak of World War II, and, in 1943, he committed suicide in Sussex.

An Egyptian Palace displays Walcot's impressive pictorial vision at its height with the solemn and massive architecture of ancient Egypt spread before us in a spacious vista and given tangible scale by the figures which people its steps. The people, steps and palms help prepare us for the stupendous climax of this palace with its three massive columns, hangings and rich surface ornament. 

Walcot's imaginative prints of this sort were understandably the most sought-after of all of his designs. These flights of fantasy into the world of ancient Egypt and its pharaohs are without comparison elsewere in the Etching Revival. Moreover, they expose contemporaneous Egyptian Art Deco as profoundly superficial, however delightful it may be to us today. His etchings show visions of architectural splendour brought to life through the artist's imaginative draughtsmanship and inspired use of printmaking techniques. Walcot knew his etching; he knew his archaeology; he knew his architecture; he had a developed sense of grandeur; and he knew where and when to leave off. The world remains a poorer place for failing to accord this remarkable, truly cosmopolitan artist and architect the attention that he surely deserves.

See:

Campbell Fine Art, http://www.campbell-fine-art.com/items.php?id=1155

Wikipedia, 'William Walcot', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Walcot

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art   June 2018