Robert Broadley was born in Manchester, studied at the Victoria School of Art in Southport. Robert Broadley visited South Africa in 1927 and spent 13 years travelling between the SA and England, painting part-time. From 1937 Broadley painted full time, many portrait commissions. Broadley's reputation is founded on his success as a portraitist, but his landscapes and architectural works are loose, impressionistic and very pleasing.