Ross (Michael)

, , c.1930.
an intriguing, scarce, image of a small fairground, comprising swing boats and a carousel, drawing a crowd of onlookers and thrill-seekers, set in an open space surrounded by tenement buildings, with several traveller caravans and a steam engine in the background.

Michael Campbell Ross (1905-1982) was born in Newcastle to a senior marine engineer father and a Russian emigrée mother. He pursued an artistic career, particularly portrait painting, alongside other roles in the Foreign Office, in advertising, and teaching. During the Second World War he rose to the rank of major in the British army, again applying his skills to a variety of roles in intelligence and camouflage, even being seconded to the Yugoslav army for period, before being recommended to the MFAA (Monuments, Fine Art and Archives Unit), assessing German properties and retrieving looted material..
250 by 205mm (9¾ by 8 inches).