William Callcott Knell

British fl. 1848

William Callcott Knell was a London marine painter, probably the son of William Adolphus Knell, who was also a marine painter.

Callcott Knell is renowned for his feel for the sea and the influences made on it by nature’s elements. Like his father, William Callcott Knell was obviously influenced in his early paintings by the Dutch tradition; this is apparent in the rather orderly treatment of wave formations. Later on, from about 1860, his style became looser and his seas more transparent but still showing remnants of the earlier method.

There is a distinct influence by his father within the composition and execution of his subjects, but Knell looked at how the contemporary artists of his period interpreted the subject and in addition took on board their ideas into his palette.

William Callcott exhibited his works from 1848 to 1865 at the Royal Academy, British Institution and Suffolk Street.