Walcot, William 1874 - 1943

William Walcot was born in Lustdorf, near Odessa, Russian Empire [now Odesa, Ukraine] on 10 March 1874.

After studying art and architecture under Louis Benois at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg from 1895 to 1897 and in Paris, at the Atelier Redon in the Ecole des Beaux Arts and the Atelier Redon from 1897 to 1899, he practised as an architect in Moscow for five years. The Hotel Metropol in Moscow (completed in 1902) was among his projects.

In c.1906 he emigrated to England and settled in London where he employed briefly as a draughtsman to the architect Eustace Corrie Frere (1863-1943). He subsequently worked as an independent draughtsman, etcher, watercolourist and poster designer.

With James Glen Sivewright Gibson (1861-1951), he submitted an entry to the competition to design the Peace Palace at The Hague in 1906. Their designs are illustrated in British Competitions in Architecture vol. 1, no. 7, March 1906 pp. 18-20.

He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1908 and continued to do so regularly until 1938. He also exhibited at the Beaux Arts Gallery, the Chenil Gallery, Connell & Sons Gallery, the Fine Art Society, the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours and Walker's Gallery in London; Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts; the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; Manchester City Art Gallery; the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin; and at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh.

He was elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) in 1914; an Associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers (ARE) in 1918; a full member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers (RE) in 1920; and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1922.

Walcot died on 21 May 1943, having fallen from a window at the St George’s nursing home in Hurstpierpoint, Sussex where he was staying.