EAST, Alfred

Sir Alfred East RA NEAC RBA (1844 – 1913) was an English painter and one of the founder members of the NEAC in 1886. He studied at the Glasgow School of Art. His romantic landscapes show the influence of the Barbizon school. In April 1888, he had shared an exhibition at the galleries of the Fine Art Society with T. C. Gotch and W. Ayerst Ingram, and was commissioned the following year by Marcus Huish, managing director of the Society, to spend six months in Japan to paint the landscape and the people of the country. When the exhibition of 104 paintings from this tour was held at the Fine Art Society in 1890, it was a spectacular success. East visited Spain after 1892 when he visited Algeciras at the southern end of Iberia. In 1906, he was elected president of the Royal Society of British Artists, a position he held until his death.
He was awarded a Knighthood in 1910 by King Edward VII. His portrait was painted by Philip de Laszlo. The Alfred East Art Gallery in Kettering, designed by John Alfred Gotch opened on 31 July 1913 and is Northamptonshire’s oldest purpose-built art gallery. East was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1899, having been a regular exhibitor since 1883 and elected to full membership in 1913.