Hesketh Raoul Lejarderay Millais (4 October 1901 – 24 November 1999), usually known as Raoul or 'Liony' Millais was a portrait painter, equestrian artist and sportsman.
Raoul Millais | |
|---|---|
.png) Raoul Millais portrait taken in 1995 | |
| Born | 4 October 1901 Horsham, West Sussex, England |
| Died | 24 November 1999 (aged 98) Oxfordshire, England |
| Known for | Painting, Illustration, |
| Notable work | Black and White Stallions Fighting, Wild Horses, Summer Morning, Greyskin |
| Movement | Sporting artist, equestrian artist |
| Spouse(s) | Elinor Clare Macdonell (d. 1953) Kay Prior Palmer |
| Children | 3, including Hugh |
| Parent(s) | John Guille Millais Frances Margaret Skipworth |
Family background
Millais was the grandson of the Pre-Raphaelite painter Sir John Everett Millais and the son of naturalist John Guille Millais, from whom he inherited both his artistic talent and his love of animals and of hunting.[1] [2]
Artistic career
Millais is best known for his equestrian paintings and for his Spanish work, created when he accompanied Ernest Hemingway.[3][4] Like his contemporary, Alfred Munnings, Millais was an opponent of Modernism in art, which he called "the Picasso lark".[3]
Numerous painted works by Millais have been sold at auction at Christie's,[5][6] and Bonhams[7] in London. His oeuvre has been posthumously profiled in publications such as Artnet,[4] The Independent,[8] The Field,[9] and Art UK.[10]
Personal life
He married Elinor Clare Macdonell,[11] daughter of railroad magnate Allan Ronald Macdonell and Margaret Helen Ryan (heir and niece of Hugh Ryan), of Montreal, Canada.[12][13][14] Millais and Elinor and had two sons, John Millais (b. 1927) and Hugh Geoffroy Millais (b.1929) who became a celebrated actor.[15]
After Elinor's death in 1953, Millais married his second wife Kay Prior Palmer with whom he had a third son, Hesketh Merlin.
He died in 1999 in his 99th year in Oxfordshire, England.
References
Biography
- Duff Hart-Davis, Raoul Millais: his life and work (1998) ISBN 1-85310-977-0