William Frederick Wells

Who was William Frederick Wells?

William Frederick Wells was an English watercolour landscape painter and etcher.

Wells was born in London in 1762. Wells studied art in London under John James Barralet. On 20 November 1804, Wells initiated the founding of the Society of Painters in Watercolours, at a meeting held at the Stratford Coffee House, Oxford St, London. He served as President of the fledgling association from 1806 to 1807.

He travelled and painted extensively in England and Europe, particularly in Norway and Sweden. Wells' art was annually exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1795 to 1813. He held the post of Professor of Drawing at Addiscombe Military Seminary for officers of the East India Company Army over twenty years from 1813 until his retirement, immediately before his death, in November 1836. Wells was an intimate friend of Joseph Mallord William Turner. Among his works as an etcher are two fine sets in soft ground; Thomas Gainsborough's English Scenery and Select Views in Cumberland.

In 1819, Wells moved to a house on Mitcham Common, Surrey. He died there on 10 November 1836, and was buried in Mitcham churchyard.