Anthony Devas A.R.A 1911-1958. British School Mid 20th.Century. Study of a seated figure signed and dated 'Devas '40' (upper right) pencil on paper 24 x 30.5cm Provenance: With The Leicester Galleries, London where acquired by Lord Methuen, January 1941 Exhibited The Leicester Galleries, London, Exhibition of Works by Contemporary British Artists, January 1941, no. 37. Ex.Graham Slater Collection.
Thomas Anthony Devas entered the Slade School at the age of 16 studying alongside Rodrigo Moynihan, William Coldstream, and Robin Darwin. In 1931 he married his fellow student Nicolette Macnamara, whose sister Caitlin would later marry Dylan Thomas. Through the Macnamara sisters Devas met, and was greatly influenced by Augustus John. He was a highly successful society portrait painter, becoming a member of the New English Art Club and in 1945 was elected to the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and an A.R.A in 1953. He died at the relatively young age of 47. His epitaph reads "He was a rare man"