Percy Spence

Percy Frederick Seaton Spence (1868 - 1933) was an Australian artist.

He was born in Sydney. He became a contributor to "The Bulletin" and also exhibited at the Royal Art Society. He went to Europe in 1895 and illustrations by him appeared in "Black and White", the "Graphic", and other well-known publications of the time. He had two pictures in the Royal Academy exhibition of 1899 and his work was also accepted in the three following years. In 1901 he was responsible for the illustrations to "Britain's Austral Empire", mostly portraits of the leading Australian politicians of that period.

In 1905 he was back in Sydney and held a one man show of his work, and in 1910 he provided 75 illustrations for the volume "Australia", in Black's colour series. These are frankly illustrative, but they show Spence to have been an artist of ability and variety. He died in London in August 1933.

He is represented in the National Gallery and the Mitchell library at Sydney. Pencil sketches of R. L. Stevenson and Phil May are in the national portrait gallery, London, and other portraits are at Sydney University and at the High Court. The Australian fleet 1913 and a portrait of Rear-Admiral Patey are at Buckingham Palace.

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