William Charles Thomas Dobson
William Charles Thomas Dobson
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
Through Eastlake's influence Dobson obtained a post in the government school of design established in the old Royal Academy rooms at
Dobson was elected an
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.[1]
Some of Dobson's religious pictures were:[1]
- 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;
- The Holy Innocents;
- The Good Shepherd;
- Abraham and Hagar;
and among secular subjects: The Picture Book (
As a watercolourist Dobson resisted innovation, by artists such as Frederick Walker, and George John Pinwell who used bodycolour.[1]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g Lee, Sidney, ed. (1901). . Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ John Oldcastle, 'Our Living Artists: William C. T. Dobson RA', Magazine of Art, 1878, pp. 183–86.
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1901). "Dobson, William Charles Thomas". Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.