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William Charles Thomas Dobson (1817 – 30 January 1898) was an English painter.
Some of Dobson's religious pictures were:
* ''Tobias and the Angel'', 1853;
* ''The Charity of Dorcas'', 1854;
* ''The Aims-Deeds of Dorcas'', 1855, which was bought by Queen Victoria;
* ''The Prosperous Days of Job'', 1856 (this and the previous work were engraved by Henry Bourne for '' The Art Journal'');
* ''The Child Jesus going to Nazareth with his Parents'', and ''Reading the Psalms'', 1857, both owned by
Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, William Charles Thomas 1817 births 1898 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters Royal Academicians Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools English watercolourists 19th-century English male artists Immigrants to the United Kingdom
William Charles Thomas Dobson (1817 – 30 January 1898) was an English painter.
Life
Dobson was born in Hamburg, the son of the merchant John Dobson, who had married in Germany. The family came to England in 1826, and Dobson was educated in London. He studied in the British Museum, and was taught by Edward Opie, nephew of John Opie. In 1836 he entered the Royal Academy Schools, and was instructed by Charles Lock Eastlake. Through Eastlake's influence Dobson obtained a post in the government school of design established in the old Royal Academy rooms atSomerset House
Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...
. In 1843 he became head-master of the government school of design in Birmingham, resigning in 1845, and went to Italy, where he spent most of his time at Rome. Moving on to Germany, he was impressed by the Nazarene school of that time. On returning to England he took up religious painting.
Dobson was elected an Associate of 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 purpo ...
on 31 January 1860, and an academician in January 1872. He was a member of the Etching Club
The Etching Club (also known as Etching Club, the London Etching Club, and the British Etching Club; or the Junior Etching Club for its younger membership grouped separately) was an artists' society founded in London, England, in 1838 by Charle ...
, founded in 1842. In 1870 he was elected an associate of the Royal Watercolour Society, of which he became a full member in 1875. He remained a constant exhibitor, both at the Royal Academy and at the Royal Watercolour Society, contributing about a hundred and twenty pictures to the former and about sixty to the latter. He was appointed a British juror for the Exposition Universelle, Paris in 1878 and was represented there by 3 watercolours.John Oldcastle, 'Our Living Artists: William C. T. Dobson RA', ''Magazine of Art'', 1878, pp. 183–86. He became a retired academician in 1895, and died at Ventnor
Ventnor () is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, from Newport. It is situated south of St Boniface Down, and built on steep slopes leading down to the sea. ...
on 30 January 1898.
Work
Dobson exhibited portraits, and ''The Hermit'', a subject from Thomas Parnell's poem, at the Royal Academy Exhibitions of 1842–45. ''The Young Italian Goatherd'', painted in Italy, was at the exhibition of 1846. He painted numerous scriptural subjects, at first in oils, later in water-colours also, which caught the vogue for sentimentality, and were popularised by engraving.
Some of Dobson's religious pictures were:
* ''Tobias and the Angel'', 1853;
* ''The Charity of Dorcas'', 1854;
* ''The Aims-Deeds of Dorcas'', 1855, which was bought by Queen Victoria;
* ''The Prosperous Days of Job'', 1856 (this and the previous work were engraved by Henry Bourne for '' The Art Journal'');
* ''The Child Jesus going to Nazareth with his Parents'', and ''Reading the Psalms'', 1857, both owned by Baroness Burdett-Coutts
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
;
* ''The Holy Innocents'';
* ''The Good Shepherd'';
* ''Abraham and Hagar'';
and among secular subjects: ''The Picture Book'' ( International Exhibition 1862); ''The Camellia'', ''The Dresden Flower-Girl'', ''Sappho'', ''Mignon'', and ''Ione''.
As a watercolourist Dobson resisted innovation, by artists such as Frederick Walker, and George John Pinwell who used bodycolour.
Notes
;AttributionExternal links
*Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, William Charles Thomas 1817 births 1898 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters Royal Academicians Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools English watercolourists 19th-century English male artists Immigrants to the United Kingdom