1807-1886

From The Art of Shakespeare

Originally trained as a wood engraver, William Knight Keeling mastered several artistic media during the course of his long career, including the demanding tehnique of watercolor as well as oil painting. Keeling was born in Manchester in 1807. He recieved his earliest formal training in the visual arts in that city before making his way to London where he entered the atelier of William Bradley (1801-1857), a portraitist from Manchester who had established a studio in London. Keeling picked up the rudiments of portraiture from Bradley and became quite accomplished at that genre of painting...

Keeling returned from London to his native Manchester around 1835. There he established himself as one of Manchester's leading painters. In addition to maintaining a busy studio specializing in portraiture and genre scenes, Keeling began to experiment with painting literary subjects. Notable among Keeling's literary paintings are his illustrations for the works of Sir Walter Scott and his Shakespearean subjects. Keeling did several paintings pertaining to As You Like It. An 1839 watercolor of this subject is in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. 

Although Keeling's primary residence was in Manchester, he also maintained his contacts in the bustling London arts community. He enjoyed a highly favorable reputation in London and exhibited there professionally from 1840 until 1885. His primary gallery was the New Watercolor Society. Keeling was elected to full membership in the Society in 1841 and exhibited approximately sisty works there during the course of his career. He was also invited to exhibit at the British Institution and the highly competitive Royal Academy. Although Keeling usually worked in watercolor, it was one of his oils, a scene from As You Like It, that was exhibited at the Academy in 1855...

Keeling died in Boston on Irwell on February 21, 1886.