John Byam Liston Shaw (13 November 1872 – 26 January 1919), commonly known as Byam Shaw, was a British painter, illustrator, designer and teacher. He is not to be confused with his sons, Glen Byam Shaw, actor and theatre director, and James Byam Shaw, art historian and director of

Colnaghi's Colnaghi is an art dealership in St James's, central London, England, which is the oldest art museum, commercial art gallery in the world, having been established in 1760. Foundation The business that became the Colnaghi gallery was establis ...

, who both used "Byam Shaw" as a surname.

Family

John Byam Liston Shaw was the son of John Shaw and his wife, Sophia Alicia Byam Gunthorpe. In 1899, Byam Shaw married the artist, Evelyn Caroline Eunice Pyke-Nott, later known as Evelyn CE Shaw (1870–1959).. Evelyn's sister was

Isabel Codrington Isabel Codrington Pyke-Nott, later Isabel Konody then Isabel Mayer (1874–1943), was a British artist. She painted figures in watercolour and oils and also produced miniatures. Biography Codrington was born in Bydown, near Barnstaple in Devo ...

, another early twentieth century artist. Byam Shaw came from an

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

family of lawyers and clerics. The Ayrshire Shaws were a cadet branch of the Shaws of Tordarroch, chiefs of the

Clan Shaw Clan Shaw is a Highland Scottish clan and is a member of the Chattan Confederation. History Origins The progenitor of the Clan Shaw is believed to be one Shaw MacDuff who was a younger son of Duncan, the Thane or Earl of Fife, who was a desc ...

. Byam Shaw's forebears included the two reverend Shaws (father and son) referred to in

Burns Burns may refer to: Astronomy * 2708 Burns, an asteroid * Burns (crater), on Mercury People * Burns (surname), list of people and characters named Burns ** Burns (musician), Scottish record producer Places in the United States * Burns, ...

' "Twa Herds". Evelyn's family, the Pyke-Notts, were gentry from

Swimbridge Swimbridge (historical spelling: ''Swymbridge'') is a village, parish and former Manorialism, manor in Devon, England. It is situated south-east of Barnstaple and twinned with the town of Sainte-Honorine-du-Fay, St.Honorine Du Fay in Normandy, F ...

and

Parracombe Parracombe is a rural settlement south-west of Lynton, in Devon, England. It is situated in the Heddon Valley, on Exmoor. The population at the 2011 census was 293. A number of Bronze Age barrows exist nearby, along with several other small ...

in North Devon. The couple had five children including the actor and theatre director Glen Byam Shaw and the art historian James 'Jim' Byam Shaw.. Their only daughter, Barbara, married Rear-Admiral A.F. Pugsley. Another son, David, a naval officer and destroyer captain, awarded the OBE, was killed at sea during World War II while in command of HMS Stanley, and George, a major in the

Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment line infantry, of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of England ...

, was killed at

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

in 1940 while second-in-command of the 1st Battalion. The family is depicted in the artist's semi-autobiographical

pastel A pastel () is an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder (material), binder. It can exist in a variety of forms, including a stick, a square, a pebble, and a pan of color, among other forms. The pigments used in pastels are ...

painting ''My Wife, My Bairns and My Wee Dog John'' (1903).

Life and work

Byam Shaw was born in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

; his father, John, was the registrar of the High Court at Madras.The Art and Life of Byam Shaw by Rex Vicat Cole, Seeley Service and Co. Ltd, London, 1932 The family returned to England in 1878 where they settled in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, living at 103 Holland Row.Tim Barringer (2000)
'Not a "modern" as the word is now understood'? Byam Shaw, imperialism and the poetics of professional society
in: David Peters Corbett, Lara Perry (eds.) ''English Art, 1860–1914: Modern Artists and Identity''. Manchester University Press. . He showed early artistic promise, and in 1887 his work was shown to

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest s ...

, who recommended that the 15-year-old should enter the

St John's Wood Art School The St John's Wood Art School ( The Wood or Calderon's Art School) was an art school in St John's Wood, north London, England. The Art School was established in 1878 and was located on Elm Tree Road. It was founded by two art teachers, Elíseo A ...

.. There, he first met fellow artists

Gerald Fenwick Metcalfe Gerald Fenwick Metcalfe (23 August 1871 – 17 October 1953) was a British portrait painter, miniaturist, illustrator and modeller. He was born at Landour, India. In 1881 he was living with his widowed mother in Walcot, Somerset. He studied a ...

(also born in India) and

Rex Vicat Cole Reginald ("Rex") George Vicat Cole (1870–1940) was an English landscape painter. Life Vicat Cole was the son of the artist George Vicat Cole and Mary Ann Chignell. He was educated at Eton and began to exhibit in London in 1890. In 1900 he ...

. He also met Evelyn Pyke-Nott, his future wife, there. From 1890, Shaw studied at the

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

where he won the

Armitage Armitage is a village in Staffordshire, England, on the Trent and Mersey Canal south of Rugeley and north of Lichfield. With the village of Handsacre it forms the civil parish of Armitage with Handsacre, which had a population of 5,335 at th ...

Prize in 1892 for his work ''The Judgement of Solomon''. Throughout his career Byam Shaw worked competently in a wide variety of media including oils, watercolour, pastels, pen and ink and deployed techniques such as

dyeing Dyeing is the application of dyes or pigments on textile materials such as fibers, yarns, and fabrics with the goal of achieving color with desired color fastness. Dyeing is normally done in a special solution containing dyes and particular ...

and

gilding Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...

. He was influenced by the

Pre-Raphaelites The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti ...

and took many of his subjects from the poems of Rossetti. He exhibited frequently at Dowdeswell and Dowdeswell's gallery in New Bond Street, where he had at least five solo exhibitions between 1896 and 1916. Later in his life his popularity as an artist waned, and he turned to teaching for his living. He taught at the Women's Department of

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

from 1904 and in 1910, with

, he founded the Byam Shaw and Vicat Cole School of Art later renamed simply the "

Byam Shaw School of Art The Byam Shaw School of Art, often known simply as Byam Shaw, was an independent art school in London, England, which specialised in fine art and offered foundation and degree level courses. It was founded in 1910 by Byam Shaw, John Liston Bya ...

".. Evelyn Shaw had an active role in the new school, teaching the miniatures class, her area of expertise. Shaw had had a long association with the artist and illustrator

Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale (25 January 1872 – 10 March 1945) was a British artist, a late exponent of Pre-Raphaelitism. She produced paintings in oils and watercolour, book illustrations, and a number of designs for works in stained glass. ...

, who taught at the new school. At the outbreak of the First World War Byam Shaw and Vicat Cole enlisted in the

Artists Rifles The 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve), historically known as The Artists Rifles, is a regiment of the British Army Reserve. Its name is abbreviated to 21 SAS(R). Raised in London in 1859 as a volunteer light infantry unit, ...

although Shaw soon transferred to the

Special Constabulary The Special Constabulary is the part-time volunteer section of statutory police forces in the United Kingdom and some Crown dependencies. Its officers are known as special constables. Every United Kingdom territorial police force has a speci ...

. He produced war cartoons that were published in many newspapers and also found work with memorial commissions. Not long after the war ended, Shaw collapsed and died at age 46 in the 1918-1919 influenza epidemic and was interred at

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...

. His funeral was held at St Barnabas', Addison Road. Years before, he had designed two yellow-hued stained glass windows for this church, depicting Saints Cecilia and Margaret.. An ornate red, green and gilt monument to his life, in a 15th-century style, still stands there..

Notable works

File:John Liston Byam Shaw 003.jpg, ''Jezebel'' File:John Liston Byam Shaw Boer War.jpg, ''The Boer War'' File:John Byam Liston Shaw - The Greatest of All Heroes is One.jpg, ''The Greatest of All Heroes is One'' File:John Liston Byam Shaw The Woman The Man the Serpent.jpg, ''The Woman, the Man and the Serpent''

Paintings

* ''Jezebel'' (1896 –

Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum The Russell-Cotes Museum (formally, the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum) is an art gallery and museum in Bournemouth, England. A Grade II* listed building originally known as East Cliff Hall, it is located on the top of the East Cliff, next ...

, Bournemouth). The painting, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1896, originally depicted

Jezebel Jezebel ()"Jezebel"
(US) and

nude, flanked by her hand-maidens. The model was Rachel Lee, a close friend of Byam Shaw. Unable to sell the painting, he later reworked it so that the central figure was shown clothed. * ''Love the Conqueror'' (1899). Now lost, but documented in a series of photographs taken during its creation, Byam Shaw considered this his masterpiece. The work contains over 200 figures. Widely lauded at the time of its exhibition, it is now recognised as somewhat flawed. * ''The Boer War'' (1901, City of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery). The subtitle for this painting referring to the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

(1899–1902) is 'Last summer green things were greener, brambles fewer, the blue sky bluer', a

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romanticism, romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well k ...

quote. * ''The Greatest of All Heroes is One'' (1905); inspired by a

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. Known as the "Sage writing, sage of Chelsea, London, Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the V ...

quote, the painting reinterprets Carlyle's '

Great Man The great man theory is an approach to the study of history popularised in the 19th century according to which history can be largely explained by the impact of ''great men'', or heroes: highly influential and unique individuals who, due to th ...

' with a more imperialistic ideal. Another lost work, it included amongst its large cast colonial military heroes of the Victorian era such as General Gordon and General Nicholson standing alongside historical icons like

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

. * ''The Woman, the Man and the Serpent'' (1911). * ''Omphale'' (1914). * ''Love's Baulbes'' (1897) '', Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

Book illustrations

* .. * . * – 500 plates. * – these illustrations form some of Byam Shaw’s more famous ones. *. * – commissioned to produce 34 illustrations. * .Visual Haggard: The Illustration Archive

* . * .

Other works

* Designed costumes for Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Beerbohm Tree's ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. ...

'' at His Majesty's Theatre (1904). * Assisted

Edwin Austin Abbey Edwin Austin Abbey (April 1, 1852August 1, 1911) was an American muralist, illustrator, and painter. He flourished at the beginning of what is now referred to as the "golden age" of illustration, and is best known for his drawings and paintings ...

in the scheme to decorate one of the corridors in the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

with murals. * ''Act Drop for the London Coliseum'' (1914). No longer in existence, the curtain Byam Shaw designed for the

Coliseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ...

featured Shakespeare presiding over a court of 101 diverse figures including

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, Saskatchewan, Ca ...

and

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

. * Stained glass for St Barnabas Church,

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Byam British artists 1872 births 1919 deaths Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in England Academics of King's College London Artists' Rifles soldiers Academics of the Byam Shaw School of Art Alumni of St John's Wood Art School British Army personnel of World War I British people in colonial India