Randolph Schwabe (9 May 1885 – 19 September 1948) was a British draughtsman, painter and etcher who was the

Slade Professor of Fine Art The Slade Professorship of Fine Art is the oldest professorship of art and art history at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and University College, London. History The chairs were founded concurrently in 1869 by a bequest from the art collect ...

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

from 1930 until his death. He served as a war artist in both World Wars, created designs for theatrical productions and illustrated a number of books.

Early life

V2 Damage at the Chelsea Pensioners' Hospital London, SW3

Schwabe was born in

Eccles, Greater Manchester Eccles () is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, west of Salford and west of Manchester, split by the M602 motorway and bordered by the Manchester Ship Canal to the south. The town is famous for the Eccles cak ...

, the youngest of two sons to Octavie Henriette Ermen and Lawrence Schwabe, a cotton merchant whose father had emigrated from Germany in 1820. The family moved several times before settling in

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a new ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

, where Lawrence Schwabe opened a printing and stationery business. Randolph was educated at a private school in Hemel Hempstead and from an early age showed a talent for drawing. In 1899, aged fourteen, he was enrolled 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 ...

but was unhappy there and within a few months had transferred to 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 a ...

. In 1904 Schwabe won a Slade Scholarship and in 1905 won the college Summer Competition Prize. In 1906, a Slade scholarship allowed him to study at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number ...

in Paris before travelling to Italy in 1908. Working in Rome and Florence he gained a deep knowledge of Italian art and architecture. Work by Schwabe was shown at the

New English Art Club The New English Art Club (NEAC) was founded in London in 1885 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. It continues to hold an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries in London, exhibiting works by both members and a ...

in 1909 and he became a member in 1917, having become a member of the

London Group The London Group is a society based in London, England, created to offer additional exhibiting opportunities to artists besides the Royal Academy of Arts. Formed in 1913, it is one of the oldest artist-led organisations in the world. It was form ...

in 1915. In April 1913 Schwabe married Gwendolen Jones and they were to have one daughter.

Career

During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Schwabe served as an official war artist, as poor health had prevented him enlisting, and he mainly produced paintings and drawings of the work done by the Women's Land Army. After the war he began to teach at both the

Camberwell School of Art Camberwell College of Arts is a public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgrad ...

and the

Westminster School of Art The Westminster School of Art was an art school in Westminster, London. History The Westminster School of Art was located at 18 Tufton Street, Deans Yard, Westminster, and was part of the old Royal Architectural Museum. H. M. Bateman described ...

. In 1930 he succeeded

Henry Tonks Henry Tonks, FRCS (9 April 1862 – 8 January 1937) was a British surgeon and later draughtsman and painter of figure subjects, chiefly interiors, and a caricaturist. He became an influential art teacher. He was one of the first British art ...

as Slade Professor of Fine Art at University College and as Principal of the Slade School of Fine Art. Schwabe's work was widely exhibited and he also created designs for theatrical productions and illustrated a number of books, including ''Historic Costume'' (1925) and ''A Short History of Costume and Armour'' (1931), both with F. M. Kelly. Other books illustrated by Schwabe included ''Crossings'' (1921) by

Walter de la Mare Walter John de la Mare (; 25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was an English poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for a highly acclaimed selection of ...

, ''The Tinkers of Elstow'' (1946) by H E Bates and several books by the dance historian Cyril W. Beaumont. As well as illustrating several books for the Beaumont Press, Schwabe also designed a set of wooden figures based on dancers from the

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pa ...

company, the

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Revolution disrupted society. ...

for Beaumont. In 1941 Schwabe joined the committee of 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 ...

and was also given a short commission to produce pieces for their collection. This included a commission to record the bomb damage to

Coventry Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The cur ...

in November 1940. In 1942 Schwabe was elected a member of the

Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours The Royal Watercolour Society is a British institution of painters working in watercolours. The Society is a centre of excellence for water-based media on paper, which allows for a diverse and interesting range of approaches to the medium of wat ...

, having been elected an associate of the Society in 1938. A columnist for the ''

Chicago Daily Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are ...

'' nominated Schwabe for a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

in 1943 for his cover illustration to ''The Old Churches of London'' by Gerald Cobb but had to write to the book's publishers to explain that he had been humorous as no such prize existed. Although he remained Principal of the Slade, he moved to

Helensburgh Helensburgh (; gd, Baile Eilidh) is an affluent coastal town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local gove ...

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Pe ...

for health reasons and he died there in September 1948.

Legacy

Works by Schwabe are held in several major collections; the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

has examples of his war-time commissions from both the First and Second World Wars. The Arts Council toured a major retrospective of his work in 1951. Schwabe's ashes are interred in the churchyard of St John-at-Hampstead in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

, over which stands a small statue of an angel by the sculptor

Alan Durst Alan Lydiat Durst (1883–1970) was a British sculptor and wood carver and member of the London Group of artists. Three of Durst's work are held in the permanent collection of Tate Gallery. Personal life Alan Durst was born at the rectory in ...

. The angel wears a sash with the legend, ''Randolph Schwabe in whose life we have seen excellence in beauty''.

Books illustrated

Books illustrated by Schwabe included *''Crossings'' by

, Beaufort Press, 1921 *''A Manual of the Theory and Practice of Classical Theatrical Dancing'' by C. W. Beaumont, Beaumont Press, 1922 *''After Berneval Letters of Oscar Wilde and Robert Ross'' by

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

, Beaumont Press, 1922 *''To Nature'' by

Edmund Blunden Edmund Charles Blunden (1 November 1896 – 20 January 1974) was an English poet, author, and critic. Like his friend Siegfried Sassoon, he wrote of his experiences in World War I in both verse and prose. For most of his career, Blunden was a ...

, Beaumont Press, 1923 *''The Café Royal'' by A. Symons, Beaumont Press, 1923 *''Madrigals and Chronicles'' by J. Claire, Beaumont Press, 1924 *''Masks of Time'', Edmund Blunden, Beaumont Press, 1925 *''Historic Costume 1490–1790'' by F. M. Kelly, Batsford, 1925 *''The Carwen Press Almanack'', 1926 *''The Actor'' by R.Lloyd, Beaumont Press, 1926 *''The First Score'' by C. W. Beaumont, Beaumont Press, 1927 *''The Wet Flanders Plain'' by H. Williamson, Beaumont Press, 1929 *''The Theory and Practice of Allegro in Classical Ballet'' by C. W. Beaumont, Beaumont Press, 1930 *''A Summer Fancy'', Edmund Blunden, Beaumont Press, 1930 *''A Short History of Costume and Armour 1066-1800'' by F. M. Kelly,

Batsford Batsford is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. The village is about 1½ miles north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh. There is a falconry centre close to the village and Batsford Arboretum is nearb ...

, 1931 *''To Themis'' by Edmund Blunden, Beaumont Press, 1931 *''

Of Human Bondage ''Of Human Bondage'' is a 1915 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. The novel is generally agreed to be Maugham's masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although he stated, "This is a novel, not an autobiography; though much in i ...

'' by

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

Heinemann Heinemann may refer to: * Heinemann (surname) * Heinemann (publisher), a publishing company * Heinemann Park, a.k.a. Pelican Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States See also * Heineman Heineman is a surname. Notable people with the surnam ...

, 1936 *''The Tinkers of Elstow'' by

H. E. Bates Herbert Ernest Bates (16 May 1905 – 29 January 1974), better known as H. E. Bates, was an English writer. His best-known works include ''Love for Lydia'', '' The Darling Buds of May'', and ''My Uncle Silas''. Early life H.E. Bates was ...

, privately published, 1946 *''English Church Monuments'' by

Katharine Esdaile Katharine Ada Esdaile (née McDowall, 23 April 1881 – 31 August 1950) was a British art historian, particularly of English post-medieval sculpture, "the subject she made peculiarly her own". Early life She was born Katharine Ada McDowall on 2 ...

, Batsford, 1946

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwabe, Randolph 1885 births 1948 deaths 20th-century English male artists 20th-century English painters Academics of Camberwell College of Arts Academics of the Slade School of Fine Art Académie Julian alumni Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art British draughtsmen British war artists Burials at St John-at-Hampstead English illustrators English male painters People from Eccles, Greater Manchester World War I artists World War II artists