Walter Steggles was the last known survivor of the East London Group of artists, a painter with a distinct way of depicting the English landscape, especially that of East Anglia. He was a core member of the Bow-based group which remains almost unknown to the art world but which between the wars achieved a string of exhibitions, gained hundreds of inches of press coverage and attracted the interest of notable collectors. Like other group members, Steggles had no strong immediate artistic antecedents. He was born in London in 1908, son of another Walter Steggles, ... His mother, Annie, an optimistic woman who survived to her hundredth year, took up painting at 73 and in her 80s travelled to Paris and elsewhere with her son to find subjects. Like him, she maintained a keen interest in the Stock Exchange, and he recalled that "her every transaction showed a profit. She and her friend Mrs Harrison would discuss the Footsie for hours." There were 3 sisters and a younger brother, Harold, who became a partner in a firm of solicitors and another member of the East London Group. Walter set the pace in obtaining formal art tuition by attending classes run by Charles Genge at Bethnal Green Men's Institute, which were taken over in 1925 by John Cooper. When Cooper moved his classes to the Bow and Bromley Evening Institute, Walter went with him. The Bolton-born Cooper, who had studied at Bradford, the Slade and in Paris, taught at the Central School and was about 30 when Walter met him. "He was probably the best teacher I ever knew. He would not impose his ideas, always finding a good point to remark on. He would say: 'You are trying to imitate someone not as good as yourself.' " Steggles remembered Sickert's dictum: "A picture must have a 'Look here!' quality. He was right. If you don't attract.... Walter James Steggles, painter: born London 15 August 1908; died Calne, Wiltshire 5 March 1997 (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-walter-steggles-1273926.html) undefined

More on Google