Margetson was born at
Camberwell, London. He studied at
Dulwich College, and later at the
Royal College of Art and the
Royal Academy Schools. In 1885 he first exhibited at the Royal Academy, and later also at the
Royal Society of British Artists, the
Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the
Grosvenor Gallery. In late 1885 he won the Armitage Medal for his studies at the RA, which is now in the
British Museum. Margetson painted in oils and watercolours. He made his name with portraits of beautiful women, often with modern hairstyles and hats. He also created religious and allegorical artworks. To begin with he worked in an academic, Victorian style. Later he would use a looser brushstyle inspired by the
Post-Impressionists and the
Pre-Raphaelites, and in particular
Lawrence Alma-Tadema. His most successful work was the classically decorative
The Sea Hath its Pearls which he exhibited in 1897 at the Royal Academy, now in the possession of the
Art Gallery of New South Wales, in Australia. A portrait of
Alfred Tennyson by Margetson is in the
National Portrait Gallery in London. Margetson also worked as an illustrator of books. He was married to the artist
Helen Hatton, whom he met when they worked on an illustration project together. He lived and worked first in London and later in
Blewbury and Wallingford. He died in
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, in 1940, at the age of 78. == Gallery ==