Sir John Lavery
Sir John Lavery was born in Belfast on 20 March, 1856, the son of a wine and spirit merchant. He was orphaned at a young age when his father died in a shipwreck and his mother dying from heartbreak some months later. During his youth he lived with various relatives in Co. Down and Ayrshire in Scotland. Eager to establish himself as an artist he ventured to Glasgow and became apprenticed to a photographic artist and portrait painter by the name of J.B. Maclair and later enrolled in the Haldane Academy of Art. In 1879 he opened his own studio in Glasgow which was utterly devastated in a fire in that same year. This catastrophe would in fact prove beneficial to the struggling young artist, who could then afford to travel to London to study at Heatherleys Academy as the premises had been insured for £300.
In the early1880s Lavery began to exhibit at the Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, the Paisley Art Institute and the Royal Scottish Academy. In late 1881 he journeyed to Paris to study at the Acadιmie Julian and the Acadιmie Colarossi, and in 1883 he submitted a small work to the Salon. He spent quite a lot of time in the artists colony of Grθs-sur-Loigne, a short distance outside of Paris, and was joined here in 1883 by a group of Scottish artists, and in 1884 by his fellow Irishman, Frank OMeara. Lavery was particularly influenced by Jules Bastien-Lepage and embraced plein-air painting. By the mid-1880s Lavery was a prominent member of what would be termed the Glasgow School, a group of innovative Scottish artists whose work echoed the contemporary French style.
In 1888 Lavery received his most important commission thus-far which would firmly establish his reputation as a portraitist and society painter, as he was called upon to record the visit of Queen Victoria to the Glasgow International Exhibition of that year. Shortly there-after Lavery moved to London where he set up a studio in Kensington and became vice-president of the newly-formed International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers. He travelled extensively and exhibited many of his works abroad; he was particularly drawn to Morocco where he would often retire to in the winter.
Lavery did not forget his Irish roots however, and exhibited at the Belfast Art Society and Royal Hibernian Academy, he was made an honorary member of the Belfast Art Society in 1904 and was appointed ARHA two years later. In 1919, he was elected president of the Belfast Art Society and served in this position for five years. His works of the 1920s show his increasing interest in the country of his birth and include a painting of his Michael Collins lying in State (Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art) and several portraits of the first Ministers of the Free State Government. In 1924 he was appointed a governor of the National Gallery of Ireland. In the 1930s he became an Honorary Freeman of the City of Dublin and received honorary LL Ds from both Trinity College, Dublin and Queens University, Belfast. Lavery also received honours internationally and was a member of academies and institutions throughout Europe, including the Sociθte Nationale de Beaux Arts and the Berlin Secession.
During the Second World War, the artist came to Ireland to reside with his step-daughter at her home in Co. Kilkenny. He died there on 10 January 1941. Examples of Laverys work can be found in major public art collections throughout the world, including the Tate Gallery, Musιe dOrsay, Uffizi Gallery and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
1. Theo Snoddy, Dictionary of Irish Artists, Dublin, 2002, pg. 334
2. Theo Snoddy, Dictionary of Irish Artists, Dublin, 2002, pg. 334
In the early1880s Lavery began to exhibit at the Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, the Paisley Art Institute and the Royal Scottish Academy. In late 1881 he journeyed to Paris to study at the Acadιmie Julian and the Acadιmie Colarossi, and in 1883 he submitted a small work to the Salon. He spent quite a lot of time in the artists colony of Grθs-sur-Loigne, a short distance outside of Paris, and was joined here in 1883 by a group of Scottish artists, and in 1884 by his fellow Irishman, Frank OMeara. Lavery was particularly influenced by Jules Bastien-Lepage and embraced plein-air painting. By the mid-1880s Lavery was a prominent member of what would be termed the Glasgow School, a group of innovative Scottish artists whose work echoed the contemporary French style.
In 1888 Lavery received his most important commission thus-far which would firmly establish his reputation as a portraitist and society painter, as he was called upon to record the visit of Queen Victoria to the Glasgow International Exhibition of that year. Shortly there-after Lavery moved to London where he set up a studio in Kensington and became vice-president of the newly-formed International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers. He travelled extensively and exhibited many of his works abroad; he was particularly drawn to Morocco where he would often retire to in the winter.
Lavery did not forget his Irish roots however, and exhibited at the Belfast Art Society and Royal Hibernian Academy, he was made an honorary member of the Belfast Art Society in 1904 and was appointed ARHA two years later. In 1919, he was elected president of the Belfast Art Society and served in this position for five years. His works of the 1920s show his increasing interest in the country of his birth and include a painting of his Michael Collins lying in State (Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art) and several portraits of the first Ministers of the Free State Government. In 1924 he was appointed a governor of the National Gallery of Ireland. In the 1930s he became an Honorary Freeman of the City of Dublin and received honorary LL Ds from both Trinity College, Dublin and Queens University, Belfast. Lavery also received honours internationally and was a member of academies and institutions throughout Europe, including the Sociθte Nationale de Beaux Arts and the Berlin Secession.
During the Second World War, the artist came to Ireland to reside with his step-daughter at her home in Co. Kilkenny. He died there on 10 January 1941. Examples of Laverys work can be found in major public art collections throughout the world, including the Tate Gallery, Musιe dOrsay, Uffizi Gallery and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
1. Theo Snoddy, Dictionary of Irish Artists, Dublin, 2002, pg. 334
2. Theo Snoddy, Dictionary of Irish Artists, Dublin, 2002, pg. 334
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'SUNBATHERS, 1936'
- Price Realised: 240,000
- Sale: 30 April 2007
- oil on canvas
- 141 by 110cm., 55.5 by 43.5in.
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![SWITZERLAND [HAZEL AND ALICE], 1913 by Sir John Lavery sold for 230,000 at Whyte's Auctions](/images/auction/880/69612.jpg "SWITZERLAND [HAZEL AND ALICE], 1913 by Sir John Lavery sold for 230,000 at Whyte's Auctions")
'SWITZERLAND [HAZEL AND ALICE], 1913'
- Price Realised: 230,000
- Sale: 04 December 2023
- oil on canvas
- 15 x 25in. (38.10 x 63½cm)
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'A BACCHANTE, 1910'
- Price Realised: 135,000
- Sale: 25 May 2015
- oil on canvas
- 30 x 25in. (76.20 x 63½cm)
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'SPRING IN A RIVIERA GARDEN'
- Price Realised: 120,000
- Sale: 29 November 2005
- oil on canvas
- 64 by 76cm., 25 by 30in.
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'MISS ALICE FULTON AT PAISLEY LAWN TENNIS CLUB, 1889'
- Price Realised: 95,000
- Sale: 27 May 2024
- oil on canvas
- 10 x 14in. (25.40 x 35.56cm)
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'EVENING, MONTREUX'
- Price Realised: 90,000
- Sale: 27 November 2017
- oil on canvas board
- 20 x 24in. (50.80 x 60.96cm)
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'THE RISING MOON, TANGIER, 1912'
- Price Realised: 80,000
- Sale: 26 November 2012
- oil on canvas
- 40 by 49.5in., 101.6 by 125.73cm.
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'THE KENMARE RIVER, EVENING, COUNTY KERRY, 1924'
- Price Realised: 80,000
- Sale: 28 November 2006
- oil on canvas laid on board
- 51 by 61cm., 20 by 24in.
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'MARY IN BLACK, c.1904'
- Price Realised: 75,000
- Sale: 27 May 2019
- oil on canvas laid on board
- 14 x 10in. (35.56 x 25.40cm)
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'LONDON HOSPITAL, 1914'
- Price Realised: 64,000
- Sale: 04 December 2023
- oil on canvas
- 25 x 30in. (63½ x 76.20cm)
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'QMAAC CAMP, 1918'
- Price Realised: 60,000
- Sale: 28 November 2006
- oil on canvas
- 64 by 76cm., 25 by 30in.
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'WOMAN IN A JAPANESE GOWN'
- Price Realised: 60,000
- Sale: 21 September 2004
- oil on canvas
- 51 by 65cm., 20 by 25.5in.
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'THE TURQUOISE SEA, MIMIZAN, 1917'
- Price Realised: 58,000
- Sale: 02 December 2024
- oil on canvas
- 25 x 30in. (63½ x 76.20cm)
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'THE LADY PARMOOR, 1919'
- Price Realised: 58,000
- Sale: 26 September 2022
- oil on canvas
- 30 x 25in. (76.20 x 63½cm)
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'THE LADY PARMOOR, 1919'
- Price Realised: 50,000
- Sale: 30 September 2013
- oil on canvas
- 30 by 25in., 75 by 62.5cm.
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'MOONLIGHT - THE BRIDGE'
- Price Realised: 40,000
- Sale: 26 April 2005
- oil on canvas
- 64 by 76cm., 25 by 30in.
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'MISS FLORA LION IN ORIENTAL COSTUME'
- Price Realised: 39,000
- Sale: 28 November 2006
- oil on canvas
- 77 by 55cm., 30.5 by 21.5in.
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'THE HOUSE-TOPS, TANGIER'
- Price Realised: 38,000
- Sale: 17 February 2004
- oil on board
- 25 by 36cm., 10 by 14in.
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'HE WON'T BITE YOU'
- Price Realised: 32,000
- Sale: 02 October 2023
- watercolour
- 14 x 20in. (35.56 x 50.80cm)
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'MOONLIGHT - THE BRIDGE, 1912'
- Price Realised: 30,000
- Sale: 26 September 2022
- oil on canvas
- 25 x 30in. (63½ x 76.20cm)
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'MOONLIGHT - THE BRIDGE, 1912'
- Price Realised: 30,000
- Sale: 01 October 2018
- oil on canvas
- 25 x 30in. (63½ x 76.20cm)
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'LADY IN GREEN (MRS. CARA H.), 1903'
- Price Realised: 30,000
- Sale: 29 September 2014
- oil on canvas
- 35 by 24in., 87.5 by 60cm.
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'PORTRAIT OF MRS E. BOWEN-DAVIES, 1923'
- Price Realised: 29,000
- Sale: 25 November 2013
- oil on canvas
- 40 by 30in., 100 by 75cm.
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'THE SOKO, TANGIER, 1891'
- Price Realised: 29,000
- Sale: 21 May 2012
- oil on canvas
- 13.75 by 17.25in., 34.925 by 43.815cm.
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'STEAMERS IN THE HARBOUR, ST. JEAN DE LUZ'
- Price Realised: 28,000
- Sale: 14 March 2011
- oil on canvas
- 62 by 75cm., 24.2 5 by 29.5in.
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'A LADY IN WHITE (A PORTRAIT OF LADY LYLE)'
- Price Realised: 27,500
- Sale: 24 February 2014
- oil on canvas
- 50.5 by 40.5in., 126.25 by 101.25cm.
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'CIGARETTE FACTORY GIRL, SEVILLE'
- Price Realised: 27,000
- Sale: 08 May 2002
- oil on canvas laid on board
- 24 by 19cm., 9.5 by 7.5in.
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'PORTRAIT OF A LADY THOUGHT TO BE MRS RALPH PETO'
- Price Realised: 26,000
- Sale: 25 November 2013
- oil on canvas laid on board
- 10.25 by 7in., 25.625 by 17.5cm.