James Maxton, 1885 - 1946. Labour politician

James Maxton — Glasgow-born Independent Labour Party chairman, pacifist, and passionate advocate for Scottish home rule — sat for Lavery in 1933, near the height of his popular fame as one of the most charismatic left-wing orators in Westminster. Lavery, himself Irish-born and quietly sympathetic to causes of national self-determination, had developed an extraordinary career as a portraitist of the British establishment while retaining connections to progressive circles. Maxton's angular features, dark complexion, and distinctly untailored appearance offered a marked contrast to Lavery's usual aristocratic and royal sitters of the same years. The portrait is painted on panel in Lavery's later style — economical, direct, with no flattery and no superfluous incident. It entered the National Galleries Scotland as part of the gallery's collection of Scottish historical portraiture.

Lavery employed his characteristic late approach on panel: a warm buff ground allowed him to build the face with thin, confident strokes, reserving thicker impasto only for highlighted planes. The background is reduced to neutral tone, placing all visual weight on the sitter's expressive face and penetrating gaze.