George Edmund Butler

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

George Edmund Butler
Southampton, England
Died9 August 1936(1936-08-09) (aged 64)
Twickenham, England
NationalityEnglish
Known forPainting

George Edmund Butler ((1872-01-15)15 January 1872 – (1936-08-09)9 August 1936) was a landscape and portrait painter specialising in oils and watercolours. Born in England, his family emigrated to New Zealand when he was 11 years old. After completing his schooling, he studied art at the Wellington School of Design and at various schools in Europe . He returned to New Zealand and worked as a professional artist for a time before settling in England. He soon developed a reputation for portrait and landscape works. Late in the First World War, he became an official war artist in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF), with the honorary rank of captain. He executed several works of senior officers of the NZEF and its battles after the war and died in England in 1936.

Early life

Born 15 January 1872 in

Wellington.[1] After completing his education at Te Aro School, Butler worked for his father and studied art part-time under James Nairn at the Wellington School of Design.[2]

Art education

Butler enrolled at the Wellington School of Design in 1890. In 1892 he joined the

Antwerp Academy, winning a gold medal and laurel wreath in 1900.[2]

Art career

In 1900, Butler returned to Wellington and exhibited his work in art society exhibitions there and in Christchurch. In 1901 he settled in Dunedin and exhibited there until 1905. While his work won praise at the Otago Art Society exhibitions, he struggled financially as a professional artist.

Royal Academy and the annual salon exhibition at the Société des Artistes Français in Paris.[1]

War artist

A woman in a long dress stands at a roadside looking at a collection of thirty white cross grave markers, surrounded by grass, in a field beside the road.
A roadside cemetery near Neuve Eglise, a painting by George Edmund Butler

The New Zealand Expeditionary Force War Museum Committee approached Butler to be an official New Zealand war artist because of his reputation as an artist and his New Zealand connections. Appointed with the honorary rank of captain in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) in September 1918, he joined the New Zealand Division in France later that same month. He observed a number of military operations, some while under fire, during his time with the division, making drawings in a sketchbook carried for this purpose. These sketches later became the basis for his paintings. After the Armistice, he returned to France and Belgium to sketch the various New Zealand battlefield sites.[1]

Demobilised from the NZEF on 31 December 1918, Butler was privately commissioned by

New Zealand High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Sir James Allen. These works are now held at the National Archives in Wellington.[2]

Second marriage and death

Butler never returned to New Zealand after the war and resumed life in England. Following the death of his wife in 1928, he married Monica Susan Boyce in London on 29 April 1929.[2] He died at Twickenham on 9 August 1936. He was survived by his second wife and the two children from his first marriage, Bernice and Brian.[1][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "George Edmund Butler - War Art Digitisation". Archives New Zealand. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Pugsley, Chris. "Butler, George Edmund". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  3. ^ "MR. GEORGE E. BUTLER". Evening Post. Vol. CXXII, no. 8. 2 October 1936. p. 5.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Edmund Butler.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Edmund_Butler&oldid=1182259572"