William Alfred Parsons

The son of a surgeon and raised in London, he was educated through private study, after which he began working as a clerk in a post office. After two years he left the job to continue his studies at the School of Art in Kensington and began exhibiting in several galleries including the Royal Academy.  
Parsons became part of the well-known art community in the village of Broadway in the Cotswolds (Worcestershire), which included American artists Edwin Austin Abbey and Francis Davis Millet.
Through his contacts in the community he became an illustrator for Harper's Magazine, which also included illustrations for books, including Thomas Hardy's short stories and travel books. Parsons also illustrated the book titled "Notes from Japan" which occurred after his visit to this country between 1892 to 1894.
Alfred Parsons is well known for his English rural landscape paintings and fine botanical illustrations.


Museums where his works are housed:

California, The Huntington Library
Cardiff, National Museum Wales
Glasgow, Museums Resource Centre
Gunby Hall, National Trust
England, Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford, England Falmouth Art Gallery, University of Bristol
London, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts Collection, Tate Gallery
Minnesota, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Moscow, Russia, Pushkin Museum
Philadelphia, Museum of Art
Sydney, Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales