William Mark Fisher

William Mark Fisher (1841-1923) was once called England’s “greatest living landscape painter,” an early practitioner of Impressionist technique. Born in Boston, Fisher began his artistic studies taking drawing lessons at the Lowell Institute. He was introduced to George Inness in his late teens and studied under him prior to departing for Paris in the early 1860s. There he took up lessons in the studio of Swiss painter Charles Gleyre, just a year before Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir would join the studio, placing him at the inception of the Impressionist movement’s early development. He returned to Boston briefly after the completion of his studies in Paris, but after meeting little success in his home country decided to depart once more for Europe. He settled in England in 1872, where his career began to flourish. He frequently exhibited at the Royal Academy, and four years before his death he was named a Royal Academician. Today his work can be found at museums like the Tate and The Detroit Institute of the Arts.