Born in 1878 in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Augustus left Wales for London in his late teens to study at the Slade School of Art UCL. His sister Gwen John also studied with him at the Slade and became an accomplished artist. In 1898 he won the Slade prize, later becoming best known for his portrait paintings. By the 1920s he was Britain’s leading portrait painter and painted many distinguished people, including Dylan Thomas and Winston Churchill. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1928, becoming one of the most famous British artists of his day. Augustus died in October 1961.