George Martin Battersby (12 February 1914 – 3 April 1982)[1] was a British trompe-l'œil artist and theatrical set decorator who became an expert on Art Nouveau and the style of the 1920s and 1930s.
His stage career was eclipsed by an interest in set design and painting and his first commission was for the Old Vic production of Hamlet with Laurence Olivier in 1937.
[1] His first mural commission was from Lady Diana Duff Cooper in 1950, and other patrons included Audrey Pleydell-Bouverie, the Countess of Kenmare, Denis Martineau (for whom Battersby did seven panels at Mompesson House), Evelyn Waugh and John Profumo, as a present for his wife, Valerie Hobson.
[2] From the 1960s onwards he began to develop his reputation as a collector, connoisseur and historian of the visual arts, decorating his home in Brighton in a typically lavish and eclectic way.
[1] In 1978, Battersby severed links with Brighton and his former interests, and moved to Fulham, London, where he continued to paint in preparation for a new exhibition that was to be held in 1982.