George Mason was born in Witley, Staffordshire. Initially he trained to be a medical practitioner, but then decided instead to become a painter.

He travelled to Rome, mainly on foot in 1842, and scratched a bare living by painting portraits. During this time he often went hungry, and was often pursued through the streets by his creditors. Mason returned to Britain in the late 1850s.

Mason specialised in landscapes, early in his career of Italy, and later of England. These landscapes were powerfully atmospheric, and expertly illustrated transient effects of light and mist. George Mason became an ARA in 1869. He was highly regarded by his fellow artists, and very popular and ultimately commercially successful.

He died in 1872. This short biography of a once popular and now largely forgotten artist is rather inadequate, and I hope to add more information in the future.