Mortimer Menpes

Mortimer Luddington Menpes (1855-1938) was an Australian-born artist, author, printmaker and illustrator who made a significant impact on British art during his lifetime.

Born in 1855 in Port Adelaide, South Australia, Menpes was the second son of property developer James Menpes and Ann Smith. His family moved to England in 1875, where he began his formal art training at the School of Art in London.

Menpes first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1880, and over the next two decades, 35 of his paintings and etchings were shown there. He became a pupil of James McNeill Whistler, whose influence, along with Japanese design, is evident in his later work.

Menpes produced more than seven hundred different etchings and drypoints, many of which he printed himself.  His drypoint portraits, donated to the British Museum by Charles A. Howell, brought him critical acclaim as early as 1880.

In 1887, Menpes visited Japan, which led to his first one-man exhibition at Dowdeswell's Gallery in London the following year.  His Japanese-style home at 25 Cadogan Gardens, designed by A.H. Mackmurdo, became a hub for British high society, hosting soirées attended by artists, writers and socialites.

Menpes was also a war artist during the Boer War, capturing scenes from South Africa for the weekly illustrated magazine Black and White, and for his book 'War Impressions' (1903).

Menpes' work extended beyond painting and etching; he illustrated numerous travel books and authored several himself.  His book 'The Durbar' was an illustrated record of the commemoration of King Edward VII's coronation in Delhi. He also wrote biographies about actor-manager Henry Irving, Rembrant and Whistler.

For the last 30 years of his life, Menpes retired to Iris Court, Pangbourne, where he managed his business, 'Menpes Fruit Farms', and built large greenhouses for growing carnations.