John Hodgson Lobley was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 artist. He was born 28 November 1878 in Huddersfield

Huddersfield

Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....

, Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, and died in 1954. He is best known for his work as an official war artist for the Royal Army Medical Corps

Royal Army Medical Corps

The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...

 during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

Personal life

Lobley was the son of a woollen merchant in Huddersfield. He studied in London at the Slade School, Royal College of Art

Royal College of Art

The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...

 and the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

. He also married in London and is said to have lived at 13 Musgrave Crescent, Walham Green

Walham Green

Walham Green is an area located on the border of Fulham and Chelsea , south-west London, United Kingdom. To the south is Parsons Green, south-west Fulham, north West Kensington, north-east West Brompton, east Chelsea and south-east is Sands End....

. Later, he moved to Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

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Official work during World War I

While commissioned by the Royal Army Medical Corps, Lobley created 120 paintings. These include scenes of rehabilitation in the Queens Hospital for Facial Injuries

Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup

Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup is an acute district general hospital situated in Sidcup, South East London, serving the population of the London Borough of Bexley...

 at Frognal

Frognal House

Frognal House, in Foots Cray near Sidcup, Greater London, England, was built in the early 18th century.-History:Frognal House was purchased by Thomas Townshend in 1752 and became the residence of his son, Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, after whom Sydney, Australia was named...

, Sidcup

Sidcup

Sidcup is a district in South East London in the London Borough of Bexley and small parts of the district in the London Borough of Greenwich.Located south east of Charing Cross, Sidcup is bordered by the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Bromley and Kent County Council, and whilst now part of...

 and numerous other military hospital scenes; of the Royal Army Medical Corps in training at Blackpool

Blackpool

Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...

; of casualty clearing stations near battlefields in France; and of wounded soldiers arriving at Charing Cross Station

Charing Cross station

Charing Cross station may refer to:In London, England:*Charing Cross railway station*Charing Cross tube station **Embankment tube station was previously named Charing CrossIn Glasgow, Scotland:...

 in London.

Many of these works are owned by the Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, and have recently become available in an online BBC national art archive, created in partnership with The Public Catalogue Foundation

The Public Catalogue Foundation

The Public Catalogue Foundation, a registered charity, is working on a project to record the UK's complete collection of oil paintings in public ownership and to make this accessible to the public through a series of affordable catalogues and, at a later stage, free Internet access.The catalogues...

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It has been said of Lobley that "Like many of the artists who witnessed the War first hand, he was deeply affected by what he had seen. His paintings of the War do not glorify it at all."

Other Art

In addition to his wartime work, Lobley painted figures, portraits and landscapes. Whilst in London, he is said to have painted "many charming views of London, showing the many parks and squares". Some Dorset landscapes and a portrait of his wife owned by the Imperial War Museum can be seen in the BBC online archive.

A painting of his called Harvest was praised in The New Age for 28 July 1910 (Vol. 7, p. 307).

Awards

Lobley won the Turner Gold Medal, a scholarship for landscape painting in 1903, and two Silver medals on subsequent occasions.

Collections

Significant collections of Lobley's work include the following:

• Goupil Gallery (19 paintings)
• London Salon (9 paintings)
• Royal Academy (15 paintings)
• Royal Society of British Artists
  Royal Society of British Artists
  The Royal Society of British Artists is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy.-History:...
  
  (52 paintings)
• Ridley Art Club (4 paintings)
• Imperial War Museum (35 paintings, at minimum)