Reginald Grenville Eves (24 May 1876 – 13 June 1941) was a British painter who made portraits of many prominent military, political and cultural figures between the two world wars.

Biography

Eves was born in 1876, the son of William Henry Eves, a London JP. He was educated at

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_he ...

and later at the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

, between 1891 and 1895, where he studied under Alphonse Legros, Frederick Brown and

Henry Tonks Henry Tonks, FRCS (9 April 1862 – 8 January 1937) was a British surgeon and later draughtsman and painter of figure subjects, chiefly interiors, and a caricaturist. He became an influential art teacher. He was one of the first British arti ...

. After the Slade, he lived and worked in Yorkshire for five years, before returning to London. In 1901 he had his first work shown at the Royal Academy. Eves exhibited in Paris several times and won a silver medal in 1924 and a gold medal in 1926 at the Paris Salon. He was elected as an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1933 and a Royal Academician in 1939. Eves established a successful society portrait practice in London and his subjects included Thomas Hardy, Sir

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

and Sir

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the '' Saturd ...

When the Second World War broke out, Eves was among the first artists offered a full-time, salaried contract by the

War Artists' Advisory Committee The War Artists Advisory Committee (WAAC), was a British government agency established within the Ministry of Information at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and headed by Sir Kenneth Clark. Its aim was to compile a comprehensive artist ...

, WAAC, and along with Barnett Freedman, Edward Ardizzone and

Edward Bawden Edward Bawden, (10 March 1903 – 21 November 1989) was an English painter, illustrator and graphic artist, known for his prints, book covers, posters, and garden metalwork furniture. Bawden taught at the Royal College of Art, where he had be ...

, was sent to France in 1940 with the British Expeditionary Force, BEF. There, Eves mainly painted portraits while based at a hotel in Arras. After he returned to Britain in April 1940, Eves salaried contract was allowed to lapse, as it was difficult for high-ranking officers to make time for lengthy portrait settings; he was to paint Gort and all the (BEF) corps commanders. Lieutenant General

Alan Brooke Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, (23 July 1883 – 17 June 1963), was a senior officer of the British Army. He was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army, during the Sec ...

sat for him on 23 and 29 April and 27 October but his portrait was not completed. He said that Eves ''should be good as he charges £1500 for a picture in private life''. However he continued to undertake individual commissions for WAAC. Eves died on 13 June 1941. His works form part of the collections of both the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

and the National Portrait Gallery.

References

External links

*
Portraits by, and of, Reginald Grenville Eves held by the National Portrait Gallery, London

Works in the Imperial War Museum collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eves, Reginald Grenville 1876 births 1941 deaths 19th-century English painters 20th-century English painters Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Artists from London British war artists English male painters People educated at University College School Royal Academicians World War II artists 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists