Admiral Sir Cecil Burney by John Lavery

Sir John Lavery (1856-1941) was born in Belfast in 1856 into a Catholic family. After moving to Glasgow and working as a photographer's assistant before enrolling in art courses at Haldene Academy. In England, the fashionable portrait practice flourished, especially after he painted the British royal family in 1913. Lavery was the official war artist for the Britain's of the Royal Navy during the First World War. He was a very versatile artist, and easily communicated in the upper echelons of society both in the UK and on the continent.