John was born on 23rd January 1892. He studied art and was taught by Stanhope Forbes and Walter Sickert before going on to study at the Slade School of Art.
John served in the Artists' Rifles during the First World War and later was designated an official war artist. The British War Memorials Committee appointed John to record the work of the Royal Navy in British home ports.
He served as a war artist in both World Wars.
After the end of WW1, John went to South Africa to become Director of the National Gallery and was a Professor at the University of Cape Town. John returned to Britain in 1937 and became Director of the City Art Galleries, Sheffield, and later became Curator of the National Gallery of British Sports and Pastimes.
A portrait of WW1 soldier poet Edward Thomas, with whom John served in the Artists Rifles.
Divers at Work Repairing a Torpedoed Ship (1918) (Art.IWM ART 2245)
by John Laviers Wheatley
