Maxwell Armfield was a painter, a decorative artist and a writer, who rubbed shoulders with the same fashionable set in London as Graham Robertson. He was born in Ringwood, Hampshire, and was educated at Birmingham School of Art, then in Paris and Italy, though his pictures retained a distinct Birmingham Arts and Crafts quality.  

The Fine Art Society dealt in his work for many years, although he also exhibited a great deal in various other places, including the Royal Academy, the New English Arts Club and the Leicester Galleries, and his works can presently be found in various provincial and overseas galleries, and the British Museum.

Despite such a prolific painting career, he also found time to illustrate various books and write A Manual of Tempera Painting, Tempera Painting Today, An Artist in America and An Artist in Italy.