Guy Knowles

Guy John Fenton Knowles (1879–1959) was an engineer, an art collector and a benefactor of several museum collections. He was also a member of the expedition which made the first serious attempt to climb K2, the second-highest mountain in the World.

Guy Knowles was the son of Charles Julius Kino, a wealthy Russian-born wool merchant and hotel proprietor who was a friend and patron of Alphonse Legros and also knew Rodin, Kino changed his name to Knowles in the 1880s. As a boy Guy Knowles was allowed to play with clay in Rodin's studio.

Knowles's father died in 1900, whilst Guy was at Cambridge, and left him a considerable inheritance. The two later established the Iris Car Company.

Mountaineering For a number of years, Knowles climbed in the Swiss Alps, in 1898 he was climbing there in the company of Oscar Eckenstein. In 1902 Eckenstein led an expedition making the first serious attempt to climb K2. Knowles was a member of that party and reportedly financed most of the expedition's costs. At one point on the expedition Aleister Crowley, another expedition member, threatened Knowles with a revolver and had to be forcibly disarmed, He was twice mentioned in despatches and was awarded the French Croix de Guerre and the Greek Military Cross.

Art bequests In his later years, Knowles lived in "a house full of treasures", which included a Degas bronze, two Rodins, ten Whistlers, and a magnificent Guardi sketch — apparently his father had bought the Guardi and a Titian sketch for 12s 6d each in the 1880s.