Rowel Friers HRUA

Rowel Friers was a cartoonist and illustrator born in Belfast in 1920. He attended Park Parade Intermediate School, Belfast and then in 1935, he began an apprenticeship as a designer and lithographer at S. C. Allen & Co. Ltd. Friers continued his education at the Belfast College of Art. In 1940, the Portsmouth Evening news became the first newspaper to publish Friers’ work, which initiated his career. He subsequently set up his own studio and started producing images for other publications.

Aside from cartooning, Friers was a leading figure in the Ulster Watercolour Society, and his oil paintings are included in the National Portrait Gallery, the Ulster Museum, and many other collections. He was awarded an MBE in 1977 and in 1981, he was awarded an Honorary MA from the Open University. He was also elected President of the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts in 1994.