A. L. (Alfred Lys) Baldry

Born in Torquay, Devon, in 1858, Alfred Lys Baldry studied at Oxford and at the Royal College of Art, and he also trained under the painter Albert Joseph Moore. He first exhibited his own paintings in the 1880s before becoming widely known for his writing on art.

Baldry built a substantial career as an art critic and author. Sources describe him as a critic for The Globe and as the London art critic for the Birmingham Post for many years, and he wrote books and articles on painters and artistic life. His connection with Moore remained especially important, and he later published a biography of the artist.

For readers today, Baldry is interesting not only as a writer but as someone who worked on both sides of the art world: making pictures, reviewing exhibitions, and explaining artists to a broader public. He died on May 18, 1939.