Sir John Lavery

Born 1956: died 1941
Agruably the most successful Belfast-born painter of the twentieth century, Lavery's origins were humble. Lavery was perhaps the most acclaimed of the generation of painters known as the 'Glasgow boys'. He moved permanently to London in 1896 and was knighted in 1918. On the opening of the Belfast Museum in 1929 Lavery donated 33 paintings, and in 1930 was given the freedom of the city of Belfast. He received an honorary D.Litt. from Queen's University in 1935.