Frank Dobson (British 1888-1963)
Frank Dobson, English sculptor, painter and designer. From 1902 to 1904 he worked as an assistant to William Reynolds-Stephens. He then spent two years in Cornwall, earning his living with landscape watercolours, before winning a scholarship to study art 1906–10.
After returning to London, he continued his studies at the City and Guilds School, Kennington, but later returned to Cornwall where he shared a studio with Cedric Morris in Newlyn. His early work consisted mainly of paintings. He made his first carving in 1913, but his first one-man exhibition was at the Chenil Gallery, London, in 1914 which consisted of paintings and drawings. After the First World War he turned increasingly to sculpture, and had his first one-man exhibition as a sculptor in 1920, at the Leicester Galleries, London. In the same year, he was selected by Wyndham Lewis as the only sculptor in a ‘Group X’ exhibition.
During the 1920s and 1930s Dobson gained an outstanding reputation as a sculptor of the female form and as a portrait sculptor. He worked in various other materials including bronze, terracotta, and stone. He was professor of sculpture from 1946 to 1953 at the Royal College of Art and awarded the CBE. Dobson is represented in many public galleries, including the Tate Gallery, London.
