Biographies

Mortimer Mempes (1855 – 1939) He was born in Australia, but came to England and studied under . He liked to paint exotic subjects and illustrated a number of books on foreign countries. He was a war artist for the Black and White during the Boer War. After living in Berkshire for a time, in 1899 he had a house built in London, which is described in the following passage from : Whistler The Guardian Despite its defining streamlined Sloane Square facade, dating from the mid-1930s, this grand design is an amalgam of five buildings constructed between 1895 and 1965. It even incorporates a graceful 1899 Arts and Crafts house designed by Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo for the implausibly named Victorian artist, Mortimer Mempes, an Australian who gave his red-brick home an authentic Japanese decor.