June 2014
Mortimer Menpes (1855-1938) was an Adelaide-born artist who moved to London in 1875 and forged a successful career as an artist in Britain. During the 1880s and 1890s he travelled to Japan, India, Burma, Morocco, Cairo, Mexico and Venice, holding exhibitions upon his return to London. During this period he also built and decorated a famous Japanese-style house in Cadogan Garden which became a hub for artistic soirées, and to which British society flocked to sit for their portraits. In 2013 two unsigned panels which once would have formed part of a Japanese screen were found in the roof of the former home of Mortimer Menpes at Pangbourne in Berkshire, UK. See the video on our website or on you tube http://youtu.be/9gD0cIwT5v0 about the conservation treatment of this screen