John Lavery

Sir John Lavery was an Irish painter of high society and city life during World War I. His career took off when he was an art student in Glasgow and chosen to paint Queen Victoria’s visit to the city. Already well established at the start of World War I, Lavery was asked to take on a position as an official artist of World War I, but injuries from a car crash prevented him from traveling. He instead continued to execute comissons from wealthy Brits, and was so beloved by the country’s elite that he was knighted and appointed to the Royal Academy in 1921. But Lavery’s relationship to British powers was complex—he made commemorative paintings of high profile Irishmen killed in the war and his work appeared on Irish banknotes, while his home was the site of negotiations between Ireland and Britain. After the war, Lavery moved back to Ireland and supported Irish art museums and art schools. A friend and admirer of James Whistler, Lavery’s paint handling was similarly loose and harmonious, with hints of both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism.