James William Govett

Who is James William Govett?

James William Govett was an impressionist who worked mostly in watercolor and oil, and focused on landscape painter and a portraits. Govett was born in 1910 in a small suburb of Melbourne, Australia, in Hawthorn. Govett's family was often on the move because his father, Alexander, was a State Savings Bank Branch Manager. While working as a bank clerk at the State Bank James studied art at the National Gallery School in Melbourne and later at the Max Meldrum School from 1930 to 1939. His mother, Helena Nellie Govett, was also a painter and studied with Max Meldrum from 1931 to 1950.

He served in the Army in the Pacific during World War II for five years and was awarded the Pacific Star. His war service record is available online at the National Archives.

After the war he moved to London, where he studied under Thomas Dugdale at the Chelsea School of Art in 1947. He lived in both London and Melbourne for a number of years, having a studio at 22 Cheyne Gardens, Chelsea, London in the early 1970s. For most of his life, Melbourne was his home at 22 Scenic Crescent, Kalorama, in the Dandenongs.