Claud Lovat Fraser
1890 - 1921
EnglandBorn in London to watercolour artist Florence Margaret Walsh; Fraser became a brief employee at his father's city firm in 1908, before enrolling at Westminster School of Art in 1911 to study etching under Walter Sickert. He left after six months to set up his own London studio and became friends with painters Albert Rutherston and Paul Nash; Haldane MacFall, who wrote the article "˜The art of Lovat Fraser' in the Art Chronicle (12th November 1911); and Edward Gordon Craig, who encouraged Fraser to become involved with The Society of Theatre. Fraser's solo exhibition in 1913 featured drawings of theatrical characters and scenes, as well as decorations for chapbooks and broadsides; published in 1913 titled Flying Fame.
Returning from the army in 1916, Fraser worked on visual propaganda and army records. A successful exhibition in 1919 at Mansard Gallery in London, featured designs for settings and costumes for As You Like It and La serva padrona, created for productions by Nigel Playfair at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. A pioneer in small stage design, including his work for The Beggars Opera at the Lyric in 1920; Fraser went on to produce textile designs and book illustrations. In 1921, he began work on a solo exhibition at the Leicester Galleries, which became his memorial exhibition following his death.
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