Mortimer Menpes 1860 - 1938

British painter and graphic artist born in Australia. He moved to England in 1879, at the age of 19 and became celebrated as an etcher, met Whistler the following year, and became his hero-worshipping studio assistant.

Like Whistler, Menpes was influenced by the art of Japan and visited the country twice; he also travelled extensively elsewhere, including South Africa, where he made illustrations of the Boer War in 1900.

Menpes mainly painted landscapes and portraits. His early work was very much in Whistler’s manner, but later his style became more linear and detailed. He wrote and illustrated numerous books, including ‘Whistler as I knew him’ (1904).

He presented 50 of his copies of old masters to form the nucleus of the Commonwealth National Gallery.

He work is exhibited in the Tate in London in San Francisco and many other museums.