‘Little Nell Leaving the Church’. Image: BBC ‘Your Paintings’/Bradford Museums and Galleries
James Lobley was born in Hull, East Yorkshire, in 1828, but lived in Bradford and Brighouse. He married Ellen Whitely, a young widow, and together they had six children.
James was the third child of six, and his father, also named James, worked as a currier in the leather industry. Despite his modest background, James was encouraged to pursue his talent for art at Leeds art school, where he made good progress and was well-regarded. In 1849 he was appointed as design teacher at the School of Design, Mechanics Institute, in Bradford – later affiliated into the Bradford Regional School of Art – and worked hard to improve the status of British design within industry.
Lobley’s work as a teacher at the School of Design and his national campaign to improve the quality of industrial design, were indeed influential in improving the status and teaching of design in Britain. Despite his influential position, he had been obliged to teach privately, and undertake private commissions, to provide for his growing family and Lobley, now in a state of exhaustion, resigned his post in 1865.
After convalescing for a year, and under the patronage of a local entrepreneur (Alfred Harris) he began to work independently as an artist, concentrating at first on church architecture – a very popular subject in the 19th century. Gradually he expanded his repertoire to include social scenes, and his own working class origins, liberal political leanings and progressive views on education are likely to have encouraged his choice of subjects. His painting ‘The Dole, Stow Church, Lincolnshire’ (shown below) is his most famous and is kept on permanent display at Cartwright Hall, Bradford.
‘The Dole, Stow Church, Lincolnshire’. Image: BBC ‘Your Paintings’/Bradford Museums and Galleries
He was successful as an independent artist and exhibited his work regularly at the Royal Academy in London for over 20 years before his death in 1888. He died at his final home at Belle Vue, Bradford and is buried at Baildon cemetery. His work is found in private collections and in public galleries at Bradford, Kirklees, Calderdale and Birmingham. Cartwright Hall held an exhibition of his work in 1983 and produced the biographical booklet, listed below.
Biography: James Lobley 1828-1888. Paintings and Watercolours (1983) by Caroline Krzesinska. Bradford Art Galleries and Museums.