Greatorex Gallery

Arthur Greatorex (1866-1952), the founder of the eponymous gallery, was born in Walworth, Surrey (now London). His first job was as a tin-plate worker, but the census of 1891 records him as a Fine Art Assistant working for the Dowdeswells Gallery. By 1907, he had begun his career as a fine art dealer and had begun to travel to America looking for business. In 1916, he opened his first gallery at 14 Grafton Street on the corner with Dover Street in London's West End. His client list grew, and an early patron was Queen Mary.

He put on several exhibitions for artists, including Winifred Austen and acted as her agent, advertising limited editions of her works at £4 guineas each. Other artists who exhibited at the Greatorex Gallery include Lamorna Birch, Eric Ennion and Emma Parsons. His first wife, Ada died in 1927, and the following year, he remarried and lived in Clapton. He was a member of the Fine Art Trade Guild and published the engraving of several artists. The last exhibition at the gallery in May 1938 was of bird paintings by Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe.