Sir John Lavery

Sir John Lavery was an Irish-born Scottish painter of portraits and landscapes. In the early 1880s he joined the Académie Julian at Paris but returned to Glasgow in 1888, where he was associated with the Glasgow School. A car accident during a bombing raid prevented him from an active role in WWI. His paintings during that time were dominated by boats, airships and plane motifs. After being knighted in 1913 he was elected to the Royal Academy in 1921. He participated in three consecutive Olympic Games in the Art Competitions: 1924 (representing Ireland), and 1928 and 1932 (representing Great Britain).

He and his second wife Hazel Martyn, also an artist later appearing on the banknotes of the Republic of Ireland, were involved in the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War, as they had Irish roots. In the 1930s he returned to Ireland where he received honorary degrees from both the University of Dublin and the University of Belfast.