Robert Gregory (Landscape Artist and Portraitist) (1881-1918)

The only child of Sir William Gregory, MP for Dublin City and later Galway County, Robert Gregory studied at Oxford University before enrolling in 1903 at the Slade School of Art in London. Later, he also studied in Paris under JE Blanche.

As well as painting, he also designed for the theatre, completing several scenery and stage settings for plays by W B Yeats and others at the Abbey Theatre. He was also involved in costume-design and stage lighting.

After his marriage in 1907 to Margaret Parry, a fellow Slade artist, he divided his time between Ireland and Paris, producing a range of paintings and illustrations as well as more theatrical designs. In addition to occasional portraits, he produced illustrations and as well as atomspheric landscapes of South Galway and North Clare.

He also exhibited in London, at the New English Art Club, the Baillie Gallery and the Chenil Gallery in Chelsea. In 1916, he joined the Royal Flying Corps, winning the Military Cross and the Legion D'Honneur before being killed by friendly fire in 1918. He was buried in Italy.

Afterwards, he was commemorated in WB Yeats' poem: "In Memory of Major Robert Gregory." Examples of Gregory's work are in the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin, the National Gallery of Ireland and the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.

Source:
Online Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/biographies-of-irish-artists/addey-guinness.htm#gore