John Lavery: Diary of a Painter

Recounting his life and achievements in old age, Sir John Lavery resorted to picaresque conventions - an orphan lad from Belfast, he discovered a talent for painting while working as a photographer's assistant, got himself to Paris by a series of misadventures, became a leading member of the Glasgow School, and ended up as a royal portraitist laden with international honours. His amusing, often apocryphal tale published in 1940 obscures the fact that the most important diary of Lavery's remarkable career lies in his painting. A friend of Whistler and Rodin, he was fêted at the Venice Biennale and became a Royal Academician and Official War Artist. During these years he was part of the international community at Tangier, where he established a winter studio. At the time of the struggle for Irish independence he painted portraits of the rebel leaders, including an extraordinary portrait of the patriot, Michael Collins, on his deathbed. A few years later an iconic image of his wife, Hazel, was used on the Irish currency. Winters in the 1920s were often spent in Florida or on the Riviera, savouring a Scott Fitzgerald lifestyle. Five years before his death in 1941 he set off for Hollywood to paint portraits of the stars. This new account is the result of painstaking research that adds greatly to our knowledge of the painter, the Edwardian art world and many of his distinguished contemporaries. AUTHOR: A specialist in British, Irish and French painting at the turn of the twentieth century, Kenneth McConkey is the author of many articles and books. He has selected, catalogued or contributed to exhibitions on the work of Henry La Thangue, George Clausen, John Lavery, William Orpen, Alfred East and other artists associated with Impressionism in Britain, most recently in shows such as The Painters in Grez-sur-Loing (2000) and The Glasgow Boys (2010). His books include Edwardian Portraits, (1987), British Impressionism (1989), A Free Spirit, Irish Art, 1860-1960 (1990), Sir John Lavery, (1993), Memory and Desire, (2002) and The New English, A History of the New English Art Club, (2006). His lifelong interest in Lavery began as a boy being taken to Belfast Art Gallery and Museum by his mother. ILLUSTRATIONS 200 colour illustrations