About
Biography – Richard Hobson 1945-2004
Richard was a renowned and respected artist based in the North East of England. He had many solo and group exhibitions both regionally and nationally. During his career as a fine artist, he won awards, and received commissions from banking firms, large companies and Local Authorities for his work. Richard was also Conservator of Paintings at the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham.
Sadly, and prematurely, Richard died in 2004. He was born in Derby in 1945, and he moved to the north east of England with his parents at an early age, developing a lifelong knowledge, understanding and passion for the area which inspired and informed his artistic career throughout his life.
In 1965, Richard attended Newcastle College of Art. Subsequently, he spent time in London where he was involved in interior and furniture design before returning to the north east. He continuing to work in design with Swan Hunter, Tyneside shipbuilders. In 1973, after obtaining a diploma in Conservation of Easel Paintings, Richard was appointed as Conservator of Paintings at the Bowes Museum where he remained for 31 years.
Richard worked on restoring many of the region’s art treasures while continuing to develop his own paintings. Richard drew great pleasure from the combination of art, history and conservation. Richard was a well-respected conservator working on many paintings including some of the great masters (including Tiepolo, Canaletto, Goya and Boudin). He undertook commissions to work and advise on conservation work for stately home owners: The National Trust, religious and university establishments, including Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle.
Richard was passionate and prolific in his artistic endeavour, working ‘in the moment’ to depict mood, climate and his expression of what he wanted to depict, yet he also working intensively on preparation and detail to achieve this creating a quality and richness of work which will only continue to chronicle and convey interest and depth from his work into the future.
About the paintings
Richard’s paintings (consisting primarily of monotypes, watercolours and pen and ink drawings) capture the changing industrial landscape of the North of England and through their documentation of the history of the region, show how the region and our lives within it have been shaped by these influences; from the dry docks, fishing trawlers, coal and lead mines, power stations, Dunston Staithes, sheep auctions, markets and coasts to the Town Moor Fair (two paintings of which are currently on display in the Discovery Museum).
David Whetstone* has stated that all of Richard’s work is “characterised by tremendous energy”, and commented that Richard “like most of the best artists, he found interest and beauty where many of us wouldn’t think of looking” (The Journal, June 3 2008).
Background information
Richard’s portrayals of the North of England garnered him great recognition and he is now considered one of the North East’s leading artists, with David Whetstone* stating that “when Richard Hobson died, the region lost one of its great talents” (The Journal, June 3 2008).
Richard’s work has also been recognised in ‘Shafts of Light, Mining Art in the Great Northern Coal Field’, by Robert McManners & Gillian Wales (2002) and ‘The Artists of Northumbria’, by Marshall Hall (2005 edition).
Exhibitions
Richard’s work has been displayed in a number of renowned galleries in the UK, including, the Royal Academy in London; the Royal Scottish Society of Watercolour Painters in Edinburgh, as well as in numerous other exhibitions in London, Wales and throughout the North East.
One- man exhibitions include the Gulbenkian Gallery, Newcastle; the Bondgate Gallery, Alnwick; the Quaker Gallery, London; the Customs House Gallery, South Shields; Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead; and Durham Light Infantry Museum and Art Gallery, Durham; Gallagher and Turner Art Gallery, Newcastle; the Laing Art Gallery (2017), Newcastle with two of Richard’s shipping works on permanent show in the Northern Spirit Exhibition.
The magazine, Artists & Illustrators, included the Laing Art Gallery exhibition as one of the top twelve exhibitions nationally (January, 2017), saying they were “paintings and drawings projecting the grit and intensity of industrial Northumbria, such as towering cranes of the Tyneside shipyards and Cullercoats day-trippers”.