Mortimer Menpes

Mortimer Luddington Menpes (22 February 1855 – 1 April 1938) was an Australian-born painter, author, printmaker and illustrator.

Born and raised in Port Adelaide, South Australia, Menpes migrated with his family to London, England in his early 20s, where he went on to study at the School of Art and exhibit at the Royal Academy. In 1880, during a sketching tour in Brittany, he befriended, and became a "disciple" of James McNeill Whistler. Under his influence, Menpes began incorporating motifs and techniques of Japanese art into his work, and in 1887, he travelled to Japan to witness its culture first-hand. He produced many Japonist works while there, which he exhibited back in London in 1888 at his first solo show. It proved to be a critical and commercial success, encouraging Menpes to travel further abroad for artistic inspiration, and over the next two decades he went to India, China, Kashmir, and Myanmar, among other countries. He also went to South Africa as a war artist during the Boer War.

A "born raconteur", Menpes was a fixture of British high society, and he became renowned for hosting soirées at his Japanese-style home on Cadogan Gardens, attended by a wide circle of artists, writers, socialites and other prominent figures. He was the godfather of Oscar Wilde's son Vyvyan.