Details

Name

John Lavery

Brief Biography

1856-1941, Irish / Scottish

Occupation

Artist

Description

Born in Belfast and orphaned at an early age, Lavery later studied at Haldane Academy, the forerunner of the Glasgow School of Art. The insurance money after his studio was burnt down in 1879 enabled him to study in London at Hetherley’s Art School and in Paris at the Académie Julian where he was influenced by Jules Bastien-Lepage.

He returned to Glasgow in 1885 and painted The Tennis Party (Aberdeen Art Gallery), his best known and most frequently reproduced work. By 1888, Lavery was so highly regarded in Glasgow that he was commissioned to paint the official record of the state visit of Queen Victoria to the city. The painting which shows Queen Victoria surrounded by nobles and dignitaries of the period, indicated the path that Lavery was later to take as an artist – one who recorded official or special occasions, and that of a society portrait painter.

Despite advancing years he was official war artist during the 1914-18 War and a recorder of the struggle for Irish independence. He made two notable trips to Hollywood and Palm Springs just before his death in 1941.