Arthur Nowell was born Garndiffaith, Trevethin in Wales. His father was a Wesleyan Minister who moved every two or three years arriving in Lancashire in 1873. Hereabouts his father was to remain, allowing Arthur to attend the Manchester School of Art. In 1893 he entered The RA Schools leaving in 1898 following the dual and unique awards of The Gold Medal and The Turner Prize. With the accompanying bursary he studied in Paris and toured Europe.

His large Biblical canvas (Walker A.G. Liverpool) brought him wider recognition being the painting of the year when first hung at The New Gallery in 1897. By now he had been commissioned to paint a number of portraits both in Manchester and London. These early connections proved pivotal and led not only to marriage but his commissions to paint the portraits of King George V and Queen Mary of which there are a number in The Royal Collection and elsewhere. He had a seasonal studio in The Singer Skyscraper in New York (1920s). As public interest in waned his initial enthusiasm for this genre mostly, but not exclusively, made way for portraiture and his beloved watercolours in which he engaged as he travelled in Europe and especially Scotland.