F.J. Mears

Gunner F. J. Mears (1890–1929) was a British soldier of World War I, and subsequently a successful artist, painting war scenes, before his early death.

Early life and military career

Mears was born in 1890. Details of his life, including his full name, are scant.

Originally a skilled metal worker, he served during World War I with the rank of gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery, as part of the British Expeditionary Force. and was medically discharged in 1917, but always wrote this upside down, explaining: "The whole of the World is upside down... Why then should my signature only be the right way up?".

He described one of his early works as: where he and his wife occupied "a room about 9ft by 6ft" with no bed, because they could not afford to buy one.

Mears died in 1929, at the age of 38 or 39,

A number of his paintings were included in the Brushes with War: Art From The Front Line exhibition at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.