Edgar Albert Slade

1872 - 1963

Born in Islington, Loben Slade (as Edgar was also known) studied at the Slade School of Art, which had been endowed by his uncle, Felix.. While there, he was introduced to Augustus John by his younger brother Charles Felix Slade, who went on to become a photographer and in about 1909 took some well-known photographs of John and Dorelia McNeil while they lived in a Gypsy caravan. Loben became a friend of John, Ambrose McEvoy and William Orpen, and the fine pencil drawings that date from the time show the strong influence of John. After study at the Slade he worked for a lithography firm, before travelling to Australia, Burma and South Africa, where he was a Boer War political cartoonist. He went on to marry Dorelia's sister Jessie, who also occasionally modelled for John, and they lived on the Isle of Wight. Slade exhibited at the New English Art Club, as well as the Chenil Gallery.