James Boswell, painter, illustrator, political satirist was born in 1906 in Westport N.Z., came to England to study at the Royal Academy in 1925 and swiftly made his name as the foremost graphic artist of the radical left. Served in the Second World War and drew extensively in the UK and Iraq (see Book). Art Editor of Lilliput 1947-1950. Took up painting again after the war. There are extensive collections in the British Museum, Tate Britain, The Imperial War Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. (see Life). He died in 1971.

A selection of James Boswell’s sketches and painting have been on display in the main hall of Tate Britain since June 2006. The British Museum mounted a large display of Boswell's work in their new gallery during Sept.-Oct. 2006. There was a further exhibition at the Square One Gallery, London, in September 2006.

The new Prints and Drawings Gallery at the BM put up an extensive display of James Boswell's work in 2006. Many of the drawings being shown appear in the book ‘James Boswell, Unofficial War Artist’, which was launched on Nov 9th 2006.

Boswell's sketchbooks can be viewed by appointment in the Tate Archive. The Second World War drawings are in the Prints and Drawings Department of the British Museum; some sketch books of the same period and drawings are in the archive of the Imperial War Museum.

James Boswell: Unofficial War Artist was published by The Muswell Press on 9th November 2006.