Bernard Eyre-Walker R.E

1887 - 1972

The son of the painter and etcher, William Eyre Walker, the young Bernard was partially colour-blind and despite clear artistic talent and heritage was not allowed a formal art school training, despite his evident skills as a draughtsman, leading to his success as an etcher. Nevertheless, the somewhat acidic palette of his best watercolours is striking and well suited to the Lake District subjects for which Bernard Eyre-Walker’s later career is best known. In 1912 Walker was elected to the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers. He served as a corporal on the Western Front and in illustrated diaries made a personal visual record of life at war. As well as painting in the Lake District and Cumbrian mountains, Walker painted extensively in Scotland, Majorca, Southern France, Sweden, and the United States.