Sir George Dowty - Portrait

Portrait of Sir George Herbert Dowty, painted by Sir Herbert James Gunn A.R.A. Royal Academician

Born: 30 June 1893 in Glasgow, Scotland

James Gunn studied at the Glasgow School Art and Edinburgh College of Art before moving to Paris in 1911 where he entered the Académie Julian.

By 1929 he had established himself as a portrait painter and worked very successfully in this field, receiving commissions from prime ministers, leading literary figures and royalty.

Gunn was elected to the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 1945 and President in 1953, the same year being elected ARA and a Royal Academician in 1961, Gunn was also a member of the National Society of Painters, Sculptors and Engravers.

A highly successful artist, Gunn was knighted in 1962 for his services to the arts; he died at his home in Hampstead, London on 30th December 1964.