Charles Haslewood Shannon

Figure Study

1899

Charles Haslewood Shannon, an English artist, was born at Sleaford in Lincolnshire, the son of the Rev. Frederick William Shannon, Rector of Quarrington. He attended the City and Guilds of London Art School and was subsequently considerably influenced by his lifetime partner Charles Ricketts and by the example of the great Venetians. In his early work, Shannon was addicted to a heavy low tone, which he abandoned subsequently for dearer and more transparent color. He achieved great success with his portraits and his Giorgionesque figure compositions, which are marked by a classic sense of style, and with his etchings and lithographic designs. Several of his portrait works are on display in the National Portrait Gallery in London. Complete sets of his lithographs and etchings have been acquired by the British Museum and the Berlin and Dresden print rooms. Shannon was awarded a first-class gold medal in Munich in 1895 and a first-class silver medal in Paris in 1900. He was a member of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers. Shannon became disabled in 1928, after a fall while hanging a picture, and the neurological damage that resulted caused amnesia and ended his career.