Born in 1846, Walter Greaves was the son of a Chelsea boat builder and waterman. He initially trained in the same profession, before finding his vocation as an artist.
In 1863, Greaves and his brother, Henry, met James Abbott McNeill Whistler at a comparatively early stage of the American artist's career. They helped Whistler to navigate and explore the Thames while he, in turn, influenced Walter's painting, which became looser, more atmospheric and markedly indebted to the famous artist's style.
Walter and Henry also helped Whistler to decorate 'The Peacock Room' - one of the American artist's crowning achievements. However, as Whistler became more successful, he began to distance himself from Walter and the English artist gradually passed into obscurity, before his work was rediscovered in the later twentieth century. Examples of his pictures are now held at the Tate and the National Portrait Gallery.
Walter Greaves is perhaps most notable for his portraits of Whistler and is known to have adopted a dandyish appearance that directly emulated that of the elder artist. Intriguingly, the current portrait indicates that Henry had also fallen under Whistler's spell. He is portrayed with long hair and a flamboyant moustache; at first glance, the painting could easily be mistaken for a portrait of Whistler himself.
