Annette De Mestre

Annette de Mestre was born in Gloucester in 1936. Her family was filled with artists, including her cousin, the eminent Australian painter, Roi de Maistre CBE, whose work can be seen in Westminster Cathedral, amongst other places, and she was encouraged to pursue painting as a career. Although given a place at the Ruskin School of Art in Oxford, de Mestre chose to marry at the age of 20, and instead taught herself to paint, mentored by her husband’s sister, the artist Rachel Windham. After her three children were born, de Mestre began to exhibit her work seriously, showing every two years in London and across Europe.