Painter of horses, Hesketh Raoul Millais was born in Horsham, Sussex, son of the artist John Millais and grandson of Sir John Everett Millais. After attending Winchester College, Millais entered Byam Shaw School of Art, 1919, then the Royal Academy Schools, 1921, in 1924 accompanying his father on a big-game hunting expedition to Africa and collaborating with him on the book Far Away Up the Nile. In the 1930s, Millais established a name as a keen shot, equestrian portraitist and foxhunter. An accident in the late 1930s prevented his riding again, after which he turned more to depicting racehorses, gaining many commissions and achieving a precise likeness of horse and jockey. Millais was commissioned in the Scots Guards in World War II. After the war he bought a derelict property in Spain, adding bullfighting scenes to his output, finally settling at Westcote Manor, Gloucestershire.