Sir Muirhead Bone

Born in Glasgow he was the son of a printer and initially he trained as an architect and then studied at the Glasgow School of Art. He was particularly interested in architecture and industry. He was appointed Britain's first official war artist in 1916, producing 150 drawings while he served. He then travelled extensively which further influenced his work. He held exhibitions in London and New York. In 1937 he was knighted and he then served as the official artist to the Second World War. He died in 1953 in Oxford.

Born in Glasgow in 1876, Muirhead Bone (1876-1953) was initially apprenticed to an architect in a small practice in Glasgow. While he was soon to abandon that career path to study at the Glasgow School of Art, his particular interest in buildings was reflected in his subsequent successful career as an etcher whose cityscapes were held in high esteem. Having moved to London in 1901, Bone became associated with the New English Art Club and admired the work of progressive artists such as Jacob Epstein while remaining an essentially conventional artist in his own right. Bone’s relationship with Wellington House, the location and cover name for the British Government’s propaganda department, began when a canvas he donated to the Red Cross as part of a fund-raising campaign was noticed by A.P. Watt, a member of staff at Wellington House under Charles F.G. Masterman. On 19 May 1916, Watt wrote to Masterman recommending that Bone be sent to France without delay to make drawings which would assist with the huge demand for war pictures. Bone was appointed the first Official War Artist in 1916 with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant attached to the Intelligence Department. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Imperial War Museum in 1920 and was later made a Trustee of the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery. He was knighted in 1937. Bone would serve again as an Official War Artist in the Second World War (1939-45) where he worked principally for the Admiralty.

Jessica O'Donnell 2014