Charles Wilfred Hobbis  (1880 - 1977)

Nationality:

British

1880: Born in Sheffield
1919-46: Head Master Norwich School of Art. Under his Headmastership the range and standard of cast and design improved and the number of part-time students increased. Design and craft were however still regarded as separate subjects. During Hobbis' time the intergration of craft and design became a national issue in Schools of Art.
1920-27: Vice President of the Norfolk & Norwich Art Circle
In spite of his short stature Charles Hobbis commanded respect, one student recalls that "During the war his desk was burnt by an incendiary: He regarded it as a personal insult from Hitler and had it immediately restored...On Armistice day he summoned all the staff and students and stood on a Box and read Rupert Brooke's 'The Soldier'." (A Happy Eye: a School of Art in Norwich 1845- 1982 [NSAD, Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton and John Stevens, 1982], p.113)

Education

1902: Awarded a Gold Medal and a Royal Exhibition to study design at the Royal College of Art under W.R. Lethaby. At the Royal College, Hobbis was taught by Henry Wilson. He also trained in lettering and Helaldry under Edward Johnson. He studied in all four schools of the College and became a talented all-rounder Artist Craftsman.
Studied at Sheffield School of Art

Works by Charles Wilfred Hobbis 

Terracotta Group: Italian; 16th Century; Victoria and Albert Museum Charles Wilfred Hobbis 1906

Naucydes' Discobolus: Study after the antique Charles Wilfred Hobbis 1900

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