Denys Wells at Horne & Harvey

Denys Wells (1881 - 1973)

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Denys G. Wells was a British painter in oils and watercolours. He was born in Bedford in 1881. Wells was educated at Belford School and later won many prizes when he studied art at The Slade, in its heyday, 1897-1903, under Henry Tonks and Wilson Steer. He continued his art studies for two years in Montmartre, Paris.

He was elected a member of The Royal Society of British Artists at the early age of 25 in 1906 and was awarded The de Laszlo Medal twice for outstanding
paintings, and became Vice-President of the Society in 1955. He joined the Artists' Rifles in 1914 and was commissioned as an officer. During the Second World War, too old for the army, he served as a fulltime air raid warden and was awarded the B.E.M. for gallantry.

He exhibited regularly at The Royal Academy, The Society of British Artists, The New English Art Club, The Britain in Watercolours Exhibition, Bradford City Art Gallery, Brighton Art Gallery and The Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts. He received the Lord Mayor's Art Award for works exhibited at The Guildhall in 1969.

His works have travelled the country, and hang in private collections in Europe, South Africa, Australia and The United States, as well as in official collections such as those in The London Guildhall, The Imperial War Museum, The Museum of London and The Palace of Westminster, to name but a few.

Although his watercolours are predominantly of London, he painted scenes not only in other parts of Great Britain, but also in Venice, Rome, Amsterdam, Spain and Northern France. Denys Wells was commissioned by H.M. the Queen Mary to paint a picture for the Queen's Dolls House at Windsor. He also received H.M. The Queen's Pension for his services to the Arts on the recommendation of the Prime Minister in 1958