Rupert Shephard (1909–1992) studied at the Slade School of Art from 1926 to 1929. After graduating, he taught while painting in his spare time, holding his first solo exhibition in 1939. From 1940 to 1945 he worked as a draughtsman and war artist before moving to South Africa, where he became Director of the Michaelis School of Fine Art. Returning to England in 1962, he was elected to the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 1972.