east was born in kettering in northamptonshire and studied at the glasgow school of art. his romantic landscapes show the influence of the barbizon school. his "the art of landscape painting in oil colour" was published in 1906. in april 1888 he had shared an exhibition at the galleries of the fine art society with t.c. gotch and w. ayerst ingram, and was commissioned the following year by marcus huish, managing director of the society, to spend six months in japan to paint the landscape and the people of the country. when the exhibition of 104 paintings from this tour was held at the fine art society in 1890 it was a spectacular success.