Sir John William Ashton, OBE, ROI was a prolific Australian Impressionist artist and director of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1937 to 1943.

The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most important public gallery in Sydney and one of the largest in Australia.