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he studied under the noted artist Charles Durand, known as Carolus-Duran. Having refined his techniques, he exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1885 and the Royal Academy in 1884–88 before settling in Newmarket and making a living painting racing scenes. Regarded as one of the finest exponents of equestrian art, Giles also worked as a draftsman and drew caricatures for Vanity Fair magazine.
When the Boer War broke out in 1899, Giles was sent as a war correspondent by The Graphic and was attached to the 1st Cavalry Brigade. His artistry is regarded as some of the best to emerge from the conflict. At the end of the war, he was awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal. Giles enlisted immediately upon the outbreak of war in 1914 and served for the duration of the Great War on the home front, retiring, once again, as a major in 1919 and being awarded the OBE.
Giles died in Edinburgh on 1st February 1941. Many of his battle scenes now hang in regimental museums as a permanent reminder of one of Britain’s finest military artists. His work is especially valued as he was one of the few artists who had actually been in battle, bringing realism in contrast to many of the more romantic images of Victorian warfare, such as Charles Fripp’s Battle of Isandlwana. Giles’s medals are displayed in the National Army Museum.
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