Francis William Helps (1890-1972) was a British artist who, besides a long career as an art teacher, served as the official artist to the 1924 British expedition to Everest.

Biography

Helps was born in

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of ...

in London and, between 1903 and 1907, he attended

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

while also receiving art lessons from a private tutor. In 1908, he enrolled at the

Slade School of Fine 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 ...

in London. During World War I, Helps joined the Artists' Rifles and saw active service in France. Helps joined the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition as an official artist. He completed some eighty paintings and drawings of the expedition members and the Himalayan landscape which were subsequently displayed at the

Alpine Club The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as: :"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of whic ...

in London. Helps took a full-time teaching post 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 of ...

, RCA, in 1931. In 1933, he was elected a member of the

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...

. He also exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purp ...

. He left the RCA in 1934 but rejoined their teaching staff during World War II while the college was relocated to the Lake District. During the war, 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 artis ...

purchased at least one portrait by Helps. He also painted Emily Penrose in her role as principal of

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Iri ...

. In 1953, Helps became head of the painting at the Leeds College of Art, a post he held until his retirement. In 1971, he moved to

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, cha ...

and died the following year.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Helps, Francis 1890 births 1972 deaths 20th-century English male artists 20th-century English painters Academics of the Royal College of Art Academics of Leeds Arts University Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art British art teachers Artists from London Artists' Rifles soldiers British Army personnel of World War I British male painters British war artists People from Dulwich People educated at Dulwich College World War II artists