Ernest Heber Thompson (20 January 1891–13 April 1971) was a New Zealand painter, printmaker and teacher who was notable for having served as a war artist in both

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Biography

Thompson was born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

in New Zealand and attended the Dunedin School of Art, where he was taught by

Alfred Henry O'Keeffe Alfred Henry O'Keeffe (21 July 1858 - 27 July 1941), was a notable New Zealand artist and art teacher, who spent the majority of his life in Dunedin. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, he was one of the few New Zealand artists to e ...

. Thompson worked as a cartoonist for the local

Otago Daily Times The ''Otago Daily Times'' (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a c ...

newspaper and as a commercial artist. He enlisted in the New Zealand Army, and during World War I served as a sergeant in the 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade in France. While in France, Thompson completed several cartoons which were published in the army magazine ''Chronicles of NZEF'' and in a Christmas publication ''New Zealand at the Front''. On the 7 June 1917, Thompson was badly wounded at the Battle of Messines and was sent to England to recover. During his convalescence, Thompson made sketches of the medical staff treating him and these were published in a collection called ''Light Diet'' which was sold to support the work of New Zealand war artists. After the War, an Army scholarship allowed Thompson to attend the

Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

from 1919. He also studied etching under

Frank Short Sir Francis Job "Frank" Short PPRE (19 June 1857 – 22 April 1945) was a British printmaker and teacher of printmaking. He revived the practices of mezzotint and pure aquatint, while expanding the expressive power of line in drypoint, etc ...

at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

, where he won a prize for his work. Thompson also attended the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cr ...

and was an engraving finalist for the Prix de Rome prize in 1923. Thompson worked as a staff member at the Central School of Arts and Crafts from 1941 until 1966 and also taught part-time at other art schools including the

Hornsey School of Art Hornsey College of Art (a.k.a. Hornsey School of Art) was a college in Crouch End in the London Borough of Haringey, England. The HCA was "an iconic British art institution, renowned for its experimental and progressive approach to art and design ...

and also at Highgate, Willesden and at Harrow. Thompson was also employed by the

National Art Gallery of New Zealand National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

as its London representative and for many years recommended artworks for the Museum to acquire. In the Second World War Thompson served as an Air Raid Warden during the

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

. In October 1941, the

War Artists' Advisory Committee The War Artists Advisory Committee (WAAC), was a British government agency established within the Ministry of Information at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and headed by Sir Kenneth Clark. Its aim was to compile a comprehensive artist ...

commissioned Thompson to produce three portraits of police and civil defence workers for 10 guineas each. Thompson produced a fourth portrait which he gifted to the Committee. For many years Thompson lived in

Long Crendon Long Crendon is a village and civil parish in west Buckinghamshire, England, about west of Haddenham and north-west of Thame in neighbouring Oxfordshire. The village has been called Long Crendon only since the English Civil War.Birch, 197 ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, where he died in 1971.

References

External links

*
Thompson's works in the New Zealand Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Ernest Heber 1891 births 1971 deaths 20th-century New Zealand painters 20th-century New Zealand male artists Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Alumni of the Royal College of Art Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art New Zealand Army personnel New Zealand art teachers New Zealand military personnel of World War I New Zealand war artists Artists from Dunedin World War I artists World War II artists New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom