American Museum of Natural History Research Library
author: American Museum of Natural History

Pritchard, Zarh, 1866-1956
birth: March 26, 1866
death: August 29, 1956
Artist
Walter (Zarh) Pritchard was born in India and grew up in the UK. He lived briefly in Bishop, Calif., but returned to England at the onset of World War I. He was probably the first artist to paint underwater. He took his oil impregnated drawing paper (attached to a sheet of glass) and oil crayons to the bottom of the sea, off the coast of Tahiti around 1905. At first, Pritchard drew only as long as he could hold his breath, diving and surfacing repeatedly, but later he used a dive helmet, the air pumped from the surface. Curiously, many of the resulting paintings and drawings had a "dry" look. He himself remarked "There is no feeling of wetness when one is below the surface."