Sir John Lavery RSA 1856-1941

Born into an impoverished Catholic family in Belfast and orphaned early in life, Sir John Lavery grew up to be an ambitious artist who painted portraits of the elite, and moved in their circles. His birthdate remains unknown but he was baptized on 26 March 1856. At the age of 17, Lavery apprenticed with a photographer in Glasgow, where he developed skills using cameras. It was also at this time that he decided to become a painter and attended the Haldane Academy.

He moved to London in 1879 and studied at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and then in 1881 to Paris to further his education at the Académie Julian. There Lavery was introduced to the work of Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884) and painting en plein air. Up until this time, Lavery’s work was traditional and academic in style and subject. His exposure to naturalistic painting and artistic development while living in the artist colony, Grez-sur-Loing, during 1883-1884 and the years afterwards, marked a turning point in his career. Whereas several of his fellow Glasgow Boys focused on rural scenes and peasant life, Lavery differentiated himself by depicting the middle class, often in urban settings. This subject matter, and his impressive State Visit of Queen Victoria to the International Exhibition, Glasgow, 1888, attracted wealthy and influential patrons, leading to him becoming one of the most renowned society painters of the time. His second marriage to his muse, the American socialite, Lady Hazel Lavery (1880-1935) also facilitated significant connections and commissions. Lavery became an RSA in 1896 and deposited his Diploma Work, The Rocking Chair (1895). He died on 10 January 1941 in Kilkenny and is buried next to Hazel in Putney Vale.