Steer, Philip Wilson (1860-1942), was an outstanding British landscape and portrait painter. He was the leading English Impressionist painter of his time, known especially for his fresh beach scenes and seascapes. He painted a number of such pictures of the English and French coasts from 1887 to 1894 that reflect the influence of the French Impressionists Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley. Examples include Knucklebones, Walberswick (about 1889) and Girls Running, Walberswick Pier (1894). Among his best-known portraits are The Music Room (1906) and Mrs. Raynes (1922).
Steer was born on Dec. 28, 1860, in Birkenhead, on Merseyside, England, and was educated at Gloucester Art School (1881-1882) and then in Paris (1882-1884). In 1886, Steer helped found the New English Art Club, an association of English painters who worked in the French Impressionist style. He taught at the Slade School in London from 1893 to 1930. After about 1895, Steer turned more toward the traditional English style of painting as represented by John Constable, Thomas Gainsborough, and Joseph M. W. Turner. Steer began concentrating on water-color painting in the 1920’s. He died on March 18, 1942.
