Biographies

John Liston Byam Shaw (1872 – 1919) Byam Shaw, as he was always known, was born in India. In 1878 he returned to Britain with his parents. The family settled in London, where Shaw senior practised as a solicitor. When Shaw was fifteen, advised that he should study at St Johns Wood Art Schools, where the training was rigorous. He was later admitted to the Royal Academy Schools. He became an affable, extrovert, highly popular individual. His first picture to be accepted by the Royal Academy was in 1893. It was inspired by poem, “The Blessed Damozel.” Millais D. G. Rossetti’s