James Jebusa Shannon was born in Auburn, New York in 1862 to Irish immigrant parents, moving to England in 1878. He was considered one of London's leading portrait painters and was a founding member of the New English Art Club and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. His work was frequently exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery, the New Gallery, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the Royal Academy of Arts, where he was elected a Royal Academician in 1909.
Painter James Jebusa Shannon was born to Irish immigrant parents in Auburn, New York, USA in 1862. In 1878, at the age of sixteen, he moved to England and enrolled at the South Kensington School of Art (now the Royal College of Art). In 1880 he won the gold medal for figurative painting in a nationwide competition of art students. Shortly afterwards, Queen Victoria commissioned Shannon to paint portraits of two members of her court, Horatio Stopford and Henry Burke, subsequently exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1881 and 1882, respectively, to great acclaim. In 1887 he exhibited his portrait of Henry Vigne at the Royal Academy; it also won him gold medals in Paris, Vienna, and Berlin.
Together with fellow émigré John Singer Sargent, Shannon was considered one of the leading portrait painters in London of the day. He was a founding member of both the New English Art Club and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. In 1892 Shannon purchased a studio on Holland Park Road in West London, where he lived with his family for the rest of his life. His work was frequently exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Grosvenor Gallery, the New Gallery, and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. He was elected an associate member of the Royal Academy in 1897 and made a Royal Academician in 1909. He also served as president of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters from 1910 until 1923, and was knighted in 1922. Shannon died in London in 1923. A memorial exhibition was held at the Leicester Galleries in London the same year. His work is represented in UK public collections including Bradford, Derby, Glasgow and Tate.