C R W Nevinson was born in London; he studied at St John's Wood School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art, both in London. In 1912 he moved to Paris to study at the Académie Julien and where he became friendly with several avant-garde European artists. Among these were Italian painters of the Futurist movement, a movement very close in spirit to the English Vorticists. In 1914 Nevinson published a manifesto entitled Vital English Art, in which he proclaimed his belief in the strength and energy of machines, and his dislike of the genteel and tranquil art of his English predecessors. He was appointed an Official War Artist in 1917 and produced some striking images of World War I. He was one of the first artists to draw the lines from the air: from aeroplanes and observation balloons. His sketches of figures in a spare spinous style represent some of his best work: Study for a Street Acrobat in the British Council Collection is a good example.

Further reading:
C R W Nevinson, Paint and Prejudice, Methuen, London 1937

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