Painter, principally of portraits. Born in Bromley, Kent, he studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, 1927–30, where he was friendly with William Townsend, Geoffrey Tibble and others associated with the Euston Road School in the late 1930s. Married Nicolette Macnamara, the writer and painter. In the 1930s began to establish a reputation as a portrait painter, painting HM The Queen in 1957. First exhibited at Cooling Galleries in 1936, from 1940 at the RA. Also showed at Agnew, NEAC, RP and the Leicester Galleries. Devas’ work is in several public collections, including the Tate Gallery, which has his portrait of the poet Dylan Thomas’ wife Caitlin, sister of Nicolette Macnamara. Devas’ portraits of women and children can be very sensitive as his memorial show at Agnew in 1959 showed.

Text source: 'Artists in Britain Since 1945' by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)


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