Mother and Child

The son of German born parents, Greiffenhagen was born in London and studied at the Royal Academy Schools where he won the Armitage Prize. He began to exhibit at the Royal Academy in 1884, at the Royal Society of British Artists and elsewhere. The subjects of his exhibited pictures where largely portraits or allegorical figure studies in the style of the late Pre-Raphaelites. He was also a prolific illustrator, poster designer, mural designer and taught at Glasgow School of Art. He decorated the British Pavilions for the Paris Exhibition of 1925 and Antwerp in 1930. In 1909 he became a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and a member of the Royal Academy in 1922. Greiffenhagen gained a reputation as a portrait painter, especially of elegant society ladies. He was elected a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and headed the Life Department at Glasgow School of Art from 1906.