Whicker, Fred (1901-1966)

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Fred Whicker was born in Western Australia in 1901 and moved to Britain, setting in Bristol where he worked as a printer for the Bristol Times and Mirror newspaper. He attended evening classes in art at Bristol Art School and it was here that he met his wife Gwen. They married in 1931 and lived in Bristol until the end of the Second World War.

Fred's early style of painting was greatly influenced by Gwen's teaching and it is often been said that their work in these years was very similar in both subject and style, focusing on academic realism in depicting still life, figure and landscape composition.

During the 1930s Fred exhibited regularly at the Royal West of England Academy and New Bristol Arts Club. He also exhibited at the Royal Academy.

Fred was a regular visitor to Falmouth, Cornwall. He and his wife decided to move to the town after the Second World War. They settled in a flat at No. 9 Woodlane, which also served as a studio. In the 1950s and 1960s Fred's work became much more experimental with form and colour although most of his paintings featured local scenes of Falmouth and St Ives. He also experimented with different mediums such as egg tempura and oil.

He and Gwen played an active role in Falmouth's art scene and became members of the St Ives Society of Artists.

Fred died in December 1966, just eight months after the death of his wife.