Painter in oil and watercolour. Born in Bedford, Wells studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in its heyday, 1897–1903, under Henry Tonks, Philip Wilson Steer and Walter Westley Russell, and throughout his long career – he was still painting at 92 – his work bore the Slade stamp. His wife Ethel modelled for Tonks’ picture The Birdcage. Wells’ work was regularly exhibited at the RA, NEAC, SBA, Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts and many galleries in London and the provinces. Wells’ work featured his wife, his collection of antiques and the streets of London, where he often painted watercolours, recording the bomb damage of World War II the morning after air raids occurred. The Ministry of Works, Sunderland Museum and Art Gallery and the London County Council bought his pictures.