This year sees the 100th anniversary of the death of Sir Hubert von Herkomer on March 31, 1914, and Bushey Museum plans a series of commemorative exhibitions to mark the occasion.

The eminent Victorian artist and pioneering film director and composer was born in 1849 into a poor woodcarving family in the Bavarian village of Waal, and they migrated to America in 1851 before settling in Britain, in Southampton.

During his artistic career, Herkomer produced socialist realist paintings portraying the lot of the poor working class, as well as numerous society portraits, including those of Lord Tennyson, Cecil Rhodes and Queen Victoria on her deathbed.

His work brought him membership of the Royal Academy, the Slade Professorship of Fine Art at Oxford, a knighthood from Edward VII, and honours from the king of Bavaria and the Kaiser, as well as great personal wealth.

Meanwhile, in 1874, the family had moved to Bushey and, in 1883, Herkomer founded and ran The Herkomer Art School in the town, which became one of the leading art schools in Britain and noted for its new and radical methods.

He directed the school, without payment, until 1904 when his former pupil Lucy Kemp-Welch, now the greatest horse painter of the day, took over, until 1926, when the school closed.

Herkomer will be remembered in a series of exhibitions which will open at different times during the year.

The first exhibition, in the Jubilee Room of Bushey Museum from March 22 to June 29, will consist of pictures from Herkomer’s own photographic album, while the album itself will be displayed in the Jubilee Case.

Then, from April 26 to September 7, an exhibition in the museum’s art gallery will show drawings by Herkomer and students of the Herkomer Art School.

This will be followed by the main Herkomer Centenary Exhibition, which will be on display in the Council Chamber from June 29 to January 11, 2015. This will consist of his paintings and memorabilia.

Finally, from September 13 to January 11, 2015, the art gallery and Herkomer Room will both display items from Lululaund, Herkomer’s home, his mansion which stood in Melbourne Road and for which he did the interior design.

  • Bushey Museum, Jubilee Room, Rudolph Road, Bushey, March 22 to June 29. Details: 020 8420 4057, busheymuseum.org