Thomas Anthony Devas (8 January 1911 – 21 December 1958) was a British portrait painter who was associated with members of the Euston Road School.

Early life

Miss M S Cochrane, Rrc, Srn, Matron, Charing Cross Hospital Art

Thomas Anthony Devas, known as Anthony, was born in Bromley in Kent, on 8 January 1911, the second of four children to Thomas Gronow Devas, the chairman of the Devas Routledge textile firm, and Marjorie Cecilia Watson. Devas attended Repton School and entered the Slade School of Fine Art in 1927, aged 16. At the Slade he studied alongside

Rodrigo Moynihan (Herbert George) Rodrigo MoynihanBurke's Landed Gentry 1970, pg 876 (17 October 1910 – 6 November 1990) was an English painter, credited with being a pioneer of abstract painting in England. Early life Moynihan was born in Santa Cruz de Tene ...

, William Coldstream and

Robin Darwin Sir Robert Vere "Robin" Darwin KCB CBE RA RSA PRWA NEAC (7 May 1910 – 30 January 1974) was a British artist and Rector of the Royal College of Art. He was the son of the golf writer Bernard Darwin and his wife the engraver Elinor Monsell ...

. In 1931 Devas married his fellow Slade student

Nicolette Macnamara Nicolette Macnamara (later Devas then Shephard, 1 February 1911 – 10 May 1987), was a British artist and author who was active in the work of PEN International. Biography Macnamara was the eldest of the four children born to Francis Macnamar ...

, whose sister

Caitlin Caitlin () is a female given name of Irish origin. Historically, the Irish name Caitlín was anglicized as Cathleen or Kathleen. In the 1970s, however, non-Irish speakers began pronouncing the name according to English spelling rules as , which ...

would later marry

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...

. Through the Macnamara sisters Devas met, and was influenced in his portrait painting by, Augustus John.

World War II

During the Second World War, Devas served as an air raid warden in London as his persistent ill-health had excluded him from military service. Devas held his first major solo exhibition at the

Agnew's Gallery Thomas Agnew & Sons is a fine arts dealer in London that began life as part of in a print and publishing partnership with Vittore Zanetti in Manchester in 1817 which ended in 1835, when Agnew took full control of the company. The firm opened its Lo ...

in 1941 and he continued with his portrait painting, most notably with portraits of both Nicolette and Caitlin and also his friend

Laurie Lee Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE (26 June 1914 – 13 May 1997) was an English poet, novelist and screenwriter, who was brought up in the small village of Slad in Gloucestershire. His most notable work is the autobiographical trilogy ...

. The War Artists' Advisory Committee, WAAC, commissioned several portraits from Devas of individuals who had distinguished themselves in the conflict, including Wilfred Thesiger, Captain

George Hunt George Hunt may refer to: Sport *George Hunt (American football) (born 1949), American football player *George Hunt (footballer, born 1910) (1910–1996), English international footballer for Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal * George Hunt (footballer, ...

and dispatch rider

Pamela McGeorge Pamela Betty McGeorge British Empire Medal, BEM was a Women's Royal Naval Service motorcycle dispatch rider during World War II. Early life Pamela Betty McGeorge was born on 29 October 1918, in Edgbaston, Edgebaston, to Mabel Maud (née Cooper) ...

, At other points in the war WAAC purchased a number of portraits from Devas, including one of the Matron of Charing Cross Hospital.

Later life

After the war Devas's reputation as a society portrait painter continued to grow. In 1943 he became a member of the New English Art Club and in 1945 he was elected to the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. Devas was elected an Associate member of the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in 1953. He lived and worked at the Rossetti Studios in Chelsea and at one time shared studio space with the artist

Norman Hepple Robert Norman Hepple (18 May 1908 – 3 January 1994) was an English portrait painter, engraver and sculptor, best known for his portraits of the British royal family. He was elected a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 1948 ...

. During the 1950s Devas produced at least nine portraits of young women for the Aero Girls advertising campaign run by J Walter Thompson for Rowntree's chocolate. Other commissions included a portrait of Sir George Dyson for the Royal College of Music in 1952 and a portrait of Elizabeth II in 1957. Devas's final public commission was of Peggy Ashcroft for the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and was first shown, posthumously, at the Royal Academy in 1959. After a prolonged period of heart troubles Devas died of a stroke at his home in December 1958. He is buried at Putney Vale Cemetery in London. His epitaph reads "''He was a rare man''". A memorial exhibition was held at the Agnew's Gallery in 1959. Several years later, his widow Nicolette married the artist Rupert Shephard.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devas, Anthony 1911 births 1958 deaths 20th-century English male artists 20th-century English painters Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Artists from Kent Associates of the Royal Academy British male painters British war artists Burials at Putney Vale Cemetery English portrait painters People educated at Repton School People from Bromley Royal Society of Portrait Painters World War II artists