About this artwork
James Maxton was a prominent figure in the Independent Labour Party and was known as an eloquent speaker. The dockyard seen here refers to pivotal events in his life and politics. He refused to fight in the First World War and this position led him to work on the Clyde College in Glasgow; he became closely associated with the radical socialist politics of the Red Clydeside era (a period of political radicalism in Glasgow between 1910 and 1930). In 1916 he was imprisoned for encouraging workers to strike. He went on to author the Cook-Maxton Manifesto of 1928 with A.J. Cook (1883–1931), a prominent miners’ leader and trade unionist, calling for ‘an unceasing war against poverty’.
Updated March 2024
-
artist:
-
title:James Maxton, 1885 - 1946. Labour politician
-
date created:About 1933
-
materials:Oil on panel
-
measurements:111.10 x 85.70 cm; Framed: 129.70 x 104.40 x 8.20 cm
-
object type:
-
credit line:Bequeathed by the artist 1941
-
accession number:PG 1416
-
gallery:
-
depicted:
-
subject:
-
artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Sir John Lavery
Sir John Lavery
Lavery rose to prominence as a painter of society portraits and contemporary scenes during the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1888. His determination to paint led him from his native Ireland to Glasgow where he tinted photographs to finance his art classes. He studied in London and Paris,...