Born in Cumberland but lived for most of his life in London. He studied in Florence with Pietro Annigoni and was an inveterate traveller, painting views throughout the world, including in London, New York, the Middle East, India, and the Far East. For decades he lived, with his wife Serena, in a magnificent studio on Tite Street in Chelsea in the building formerly occupied at various times by Sargent, Whistler, Glyn Philpot and Augustus John. Barrow was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy and was a long time President of the Chelsea Art Society.