He was the son of George Frederick Hare, a dentist from Ipswich, and his wife, Ella, from County Wexford. He was formally educated in art in Limerick School of Art, where he spent three years under the tutelage of Nicholas Brophy. In 1875, he received a scholarship and moved to London to study for seven years at the National Art Training School, South Kensington. He supplemented his income from painting with teaching. In 1891, he was a founding member of the
Chelsea Arts Club. He was an elected member of both the
Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours and the
Royal Institute of Oil Painters.
Sir Hugh Lane included his work in the London Guildhall exhibition of Irish painters in 1906 and his work was also exhibited regularly at the
Walker Gallery, Liverpool and the
Manchester City Art Gallery. He was sponsored by
Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare, 6th Baronet and produced several portraits of the Hoare family. His most notable works are the aforementioned
Death of William the Conqueror (1886),
The Victory of Faith (1890 or 1891),
Yesterdays (1894), and
The Gilded Cage (1908). Saint George Hare died in London in January 1933. A large collection of his paintings are held by the
National Trust. ==References==