Portrait of James Dring

William Dring was born in London and studied at the Slade under Henry Tonks, 1922-25, where he won a first prize for drawing and figure painting. He was a teacher of drawing and painting at Southampton School of Art until 1940, then becoming an official war artist whose work is well represented in the Imperial War Museum. After the war he became a noted exhibitor at the Royal Academy, becoming a full member in 1955. The sitter of this portrait is the artist’s younger brother James Dring. Also an artist, James Dring studied at the Clapham School of Art and taught at St Martin’s School of Art. He exhibited widely in this country and abroad. This sensitive portrait was painted just after the brothers had left their respective art schools and where at the beginning of their own careers as professional artists.