Death Notice

YEEND KING: On 10 th June at 242 Portdown-road, Maida Vale W9 Henry John Yeend King VPRI, aged 68. Funeral at Paddington Cemetery, Willsden-lane tomorrow (Friday), at 2.15 p m. Kindly accept this the only intimation.

OBITUARY The Times Thursday June 12, 1924

We regret to announce that Mr Henry John Yeend King, vice president of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours died in London on Tuesday at the age of sixty eight. His loss will be deeply felt not only by his brother artists, but by a great many friends in other walks of life,

Born in London on August 21, 1855, the son of Henry King, he began his education as a choir-boy at the Temple Church. One of his earliest memories was of being locked in the building one afternoon after practice. “I had to spend the night in a cabin built of pew-cushions, while my father was enquiring at every hospital in London. After three weeks’ rest with a bad cold on going back to my choral duties, I was summoned to an interview with a Bencher, who after regaling me with cake and wine, presented me with five shillings for being a “good boy” and for not having thrown my boots through one of the stained glass windows. The idea of doing such a thing had never occurred to me.” From the Temple he went to the old Philological School, and was then apprenticed to Messrs O’ Connors, glass painters, where he stayed for three years. He first began painting under William Bromley RBA, and afterwards in Paris under Bonnat and Cormon. Returning to England he made a speciality of landscapes with figure, had exhibited at the Royal Academy since 1876, and was a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. Among his many well-known pictures are “The Garden by the River,” purchased by the Council of the Royal Academy, as trustees for the permanent collection of New South Wales in 1897, and “Milking Time,” bought under the Chantrey Bequest in 1898, “From Green to Gold,” was bought for the permanent collection in Liverpool. Among his other works are “The Lass that Loves a Sailor, Sweet September, The Miller’s Daughter, & Hay in September.” He has been awarded medals in exhibitions in Paris, Chicago, and Berlin.

In appearance Yeend King was a contrast to the conventional idea of an artist, wearing his hair short, and having a genial smile and a great fund of humour. Like most painters, however he was a real Bohemian, with a wonderful collection of funny stories which he told well. He was seldom without a snuffbox, though he himself was not a constant snuff taker. He married in 1881 Edith Lillian, daughter of a mezzotint engraver and had one daughter.