true crime

Meet Walter Sickert: The English Painter Who May Have Been Jack the Ripper

By all accounts, Jack the Ripper is the most well-known serial killer pre-1900. At the time, the concept of a “serial killer” hadn’t even entered the collective consciousness.

However, as of now, no one can confirm with any certainty who the real Jack the Ripper was. One of the most intriguing suspects, though, is a man named Walter Sickert.

Today we’ll take a look at who Walter Sickert was, his body of work as a painter, and why many people believe he may have been Jack the Ripper.

Who Was Walter Sickert?

Walter Sickert was born in Munich, Germany, in 1860 to Eleanor Louisa Henry and Oswald Sickert, a Danish painter.

Originally, Sickert had wanted to be an actor. However, in 1883, he traveled to Paris and studied under French Impressionist painter Edgar Degas.

It wasn’t long before Sickert made a name for himself in the art community for his controversial paintings.

Firstly, Sickert developed a fascination with urban life that inspired him to move to the Cumberland Market neighborhood of London in the 1890's.

Why Is Walter Sickert Believed to Be Jack the Ripper?

Also, during this period of his career, the subjects of many of Walter Sickert’s paintings were prostitutes, who many people believed Sickert was a client of.

Sickert was also publicly fascinated with the crimes of Jack the Ripper, so much so that he painted “Jack the Ripper’s Bedroom” in 1907.

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