George Edmund Butler

George Edmund Butler ( – ) was a landscape and portrait painter specialising in oils and watercolours. Born in England, his family emigrated to New Zealand when he was 11 years old. After completing his schooling, he studied art at the Wellington School of Design and at various schools in Europe . He returned to New Zealand and worked as a professional artist for a time before settling in England. He soon developed a reputation for portrait and landscape works. Late in the First World War, he became an official war artist in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF), with the honorary rank of captain. He executed several works of senior officers of the NZEF and its battles after the war and died in England in 1936.

Early life Born 15 January 1872 in Southampton, England, George Edmund Butler emigrated to New Zealand with his parents, Joseph Cawte Butler and Jane Tiller, in 1883, settling in Wellington. After completing his education at Te Aro School, Butler worked for his father and studied art part-time under James Nairn at the Wellington School of Design.

Art education

Lt.Col. Eustace Edward Melville Lawford, 1st Madras Lancers by George Edmund ButlerButler enrolled at the Wellington School of Design in 1890. In 1892 he joined the avant-garde Wellington Art Club, founded by Nairn, and soon established a local reputation for his paintings of seascapes. In 1897, Butler went to Sydney with the Wellington art dealer McGregor Wright to study pictures in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales.