Ruskin Spear 1911-1990

Ruskin Spear was a painter of people and their lives and became a highly regarded portrait painter. His sitters ranged from distinguished figures in British society, such as John Betjeman and Laurence Olivier, to enigmatic characters he met in his local pubs in Hammersmith and Chiswick. In spite of his reputation as a skilled painter, Spear defended his status a 'working class cockney'. His view on life was well known: 'ars longa, vita brevis', painting, breathing, drinking.  

Born in Hammersmith, West London, Spear studied at the Hammersmith School of Art and then went on to the Royal College of Under where he studied under Sir William Rothenstein 1931-4. During the War he undertook commissions for the War Artists' Advisory Committee and was involved in the 'Recording Britain' scheme sponsored by the Pilgrim Trust 1940-5. Spear worked as a visiting teacher at the Central School 1945-8 and then at the R.C.A. from1948. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1932; A.R.A. 1944, R.A. 1954 and was a member of the London Group from 1942, becoming the president from 1949-50. Visited Russia July 1957 on the occasion of the exhibition in Moscow and Leningrad of British painting, Looking at People, in which he was represented.