Arthur Devis

Arthur Devis (19 February 1712, Preston – 25 July 1787, Brighton) was an English portrait painter, particularly known for his conversation pieces and other such small portraits.

Lancashire-born, he spent most of his working life in London (and, from 1783, Brighton), and - despite being little regarded in his lifetime - became popular in the 1930s due to the delicacy of his style and the historical value of his works as records of 18th century England's middle classes and regional gentry. He exhibited at the Free Society of Artists between 1762 and 1780 and restored Sir James Thornhill's paintings in the hall at Greenwich.

His half-brother Anthony Devis was a landscape painter. On 20 July 1742 Arthur married Elizabeth Faulkner (1723–1788) at St Katharine's by the Tower‎ in London. Of their six surviving children (out of a total of twenty-two born) - Ellin Devis (1746–1820) became an author and the headmistress of a girls' school and Thomas Anthony Devis (1757–1810) and Arthur William Devis (1762–1822) both became painters.