William James Bloye (8 July 1890 – 6 June 1975) was an English sculptor, active in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
either side of
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 ...
.
Life
Bloye studied, and later, taught at the
Birmingham School of Art
The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Faculty of Arts, Design a ...
(his training was interrupted by
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 ...
, when he served in the
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...
from 1915 to 1917;
he was eventually succeeded at Birmingham by
John Bridgeman), where his pupils included
Gordon Herickx,
Roy Kitchin,
Raymond Mason,
John Poole and
Ian Walters
Ian Homer Walters (9 April 1930 – 6 August 2006) was an English sculptor.
Biography
Born in Solihull, Walters was educated at Yardley Grammar school and under William Bloye at the Birmingham School of Art. After National Service in the Royal ...
. He also studied stone-carving and letter cutting under
Eric Gill
Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...
around 1921.
![William Bloye blue plaque](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/William_Bloye_blue_plaque.jpg)
In 1925 Bloye became a member of the
Birmingham Civic Society
Birmingham Civic Society is a voluntary body in Birmingham, England, and is registered with the Civic Trust.
History
The society was founded at an inaugural meeting on 10 June 1918 in the Birmingham Council House. The first president of the ...
, having, at about that time, a studio at 111, Golden Hillock Road,
Small Heath
Small Heath is an area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre.
History
Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman times, sits on top of a small hill. ...
, Birmingham. As Birmingham's unofficial civic sculptor he worked on virtually all public commissions including libraries, hospitals and the University. He often carved
bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
plaques, typically for
public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
s in Birmingham, and decorated a number of buildings by the architect
Holland W. Hobbiss. During the 1920s, he served on the Technical Committee of the Birmingham Civic Society.
Bloye became a member of the
Royal British Society of Sculptors
The Royal Society of Sculptors is a British charity established in 1905 which promotes excellence in the art and practice of sculpture. Its headquarters are a centre for contemporary sculpture on Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, London. It ...
: associate (with the honorific suffix ARBS) in 1934, and fellow (FRBS) in 1938. He also won the latter's
Otto Beit Medal
The Royal Society of Sculptors is a British charity established in 1905 which promotes excellence in the art and practice of sculpture. Its headquarters are a centre for contemporary sculpture on Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, London. It ...
. Retiring from the School of Art in 1956 he moved to
Solihull
Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...
. He died in
Arezzo
Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...
, Italy in 1975.
In December 2010, a
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
was unveiled at
City College, on the site of his former studio.
As of January 2010, Birmingham City Council are working on the restoration of Bloye's statue of
Pan at
Aston Hall
Aston Hall is a Grade I listed Jacobean house in Aston, Birmingham, England, designed by John Thorpe and built between 1618 and 1635. It is a leading example of the Jacobean prodigy house.
In 1864, the house was bought by Birmingham Corpo ...
. The statue's head is missing, and they have appealed for old photographs to assist in its reconstruction.
RBSA
![William Bloye autograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/William_Bloye_autograph.jpg)
Bloye was closely associated with the
Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists or RBSA is an art society, based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England, where it owns and operates an art gallery, the RBSA Gallery, on Brook Street, just off St Paul's Square. It is both a re ...
(RBSA). Although the two 1919 bronze plaques at the RBSA entrance are the earliest known work by Bloye in Birmingham, he became a member only in 1930.
After a period as vice-president, he became president in 1948
and served in that role until 1950. He was also the RBSA's Professor of Sculpture
from at least the mid-1940s until at least 1961
(after which time the post is no longer mentioned in the annual catalogues).
[RBSA catalogues, 1962 onwards]
The Society's permanent collection includes one of his works, a life-size plaster bust, ''Head of Man''.
[RBSA archives, catalogue number B43] It is undated and not usually on display. The subject's name is not recorded.
Selected public works
1919
1920-1929
1930-1940
1950-1959
1960-1974
Date unknown
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloye, William
1890 births
1975 deaths
20th-century British sculptors
20th-century English male artists
Artists from Birmingham, West Midlands
British architectural sculptors
English male sculptors
Modern sculptors
People from Small Heath, Birmingham
Members and Associates of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
British letter cutters
Fellows of the Royal British Society of Sculptors
Alumni of the Birmingham School of Art
Academics of the Birmingham School of Art
British Army personnel of World War I
Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers