Robert Anning Bell
Born 14 April 1863
Died 27 November 1933
Active: 1885 - 1934
Country of birth and death: England
Painter, illustrator, fabric designer, mosaic, stained glass, designer of pottery, and sculpture (reliefs)
Wealth at death: £2,122 7s. 0d.
Probate date: 9 January 1934
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited. Click here for more information.
Locations
Address 54 Glebe Place Chelsea London | View on map
Address 4 Bath Road Bedford Park London | View on map
1885 (Circa) - 1891 (Circa)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: Sixth Exhibition, 1899
Multiple works
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1897
'Ariadne'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, Arts & Crafts Exhibition, 1904
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland Second Exhibition, 1899
1899
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1885 - 1904
Exhibited 7 times, 1 work per year.
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-second (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1892
1892
Harvest (cat. no. 1352, panel, £10 10s.).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-fourth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1894
1894
The Toilet (cat. no. 1307, £15 15s.).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-sixth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1896
1896
Ariadne (cat. no. 1214, coloured relief, not for sale).
Involved in Coloured Sculpture (Art Workers Guild), 1902
Speaker at The Value of Literary Motifs in Painting and Sculpture (Art Workers Guild), 1911
Speaker at The Application of Colour to Stone and Wood (Art Workers Guild), 1913
Speaker at The Horse in Design (Art Workers Guild), 1914
Speaker at Temporary Street Decoration (Art Workers Guild), 1914
Speaker at Flower, Fruit and Leaf Forms in Decoration (Art Workers Guild), 1916
Speaker at Architects, Painters and Sculptors, and Schemes of Decoration (Art Workers Guild), 1917
Took part in Second Continental Expedition of the Guild (Art Workers Guild), 1894
Institutional and Business Connections
Associated with The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers
Committee member of Royal Academy Schools
1933 - 27 November 1933
Served as a Member of the Council in 1933 until his death in the same year. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1933', (1934), p. 34.
Master of Art Workers Guild
1921
Member of Art Workers Guild
1891 - 1933 (Presumed)
Professor of design at Royal College of Art (including National Art Training School)
1918 - 1924
Listed as Professor of the School of Design in a list of 'Previous Holders of the Post of Profssor', in 'Prospectus of the Royal College of Art', 1933-1934.
Teacher of painting at School of Architecture and Applied Art (Art Sheds), Liverpool
1894 - 1898
Also taught drawing
Personal and Professional Connections
Made portrait of Frederick William Pomeroy
Given to Art Workers' Guild to add to their collection of portraits of past-masters [AWG annual report for 1924, p.10].
Nominator of Charles Sargeant Jagger
31 March 1919
For RA.
Nominator of Gilbert Ledward
31 March 1919
For RA.
Nominator of Charles de Sousy Ricketts
March 1922
For RA.
Nominator of Alfred Frank Hardiman
7 February 1930
For RA.
Nominator of (Arthur) Eric Rowton Gill
7 February 1930
For RA.
Descriptions of Practice
Listed under Sculptors Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, Coin, Gem, and Seal-Engravers, Mint Masters, &c., Ancient and Modern with References to their Works, B.C. 500 - A.D. 1900, Volume VII, 1923 Biographical Dictionary of Medallists
Listed as a contemporary sculptor. Forrer notes that Bell exhibited a 'fine Medallion representing the 'Fortune Teller' at the Royal Academy, London, in 1904. See vol. 7, (1923), p. 65.
Sources
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1885-1900
1894, p.6.
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1901-1912
1902, p.7; 1911, p.6.
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1913-1933
1913, p.14; 1914, p.10.
Arts and Crafts Society: Catalogue of the Sixth Exhibition.
1899
pp.31-32, pp.35-36, p.69, p.126, pp.135-136, p.141.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-fourth, 1894 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1894
pp. 49-52.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-sixth, 1896 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1896
pp. 45-48.
Catalogue of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition 1904
1904
Cat. No. 1221, pp. 73, 123
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1897
1897
Cat. No. 843, pp. 79, 91
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2004
Peter Rose, ‘Bell, Robert Anning (1863–1933)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/58736, accessed 12 May 2009]
Prospectus of the Royal College of Art, 1933-1934 Royal College of Art
1933
Unpaged list of post holders of Professor.
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1906-1927
1927
p.77, pp.107-108.
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1927-1938
1938
p.144, p.149.
The Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland Catalogue of the Second Exhibition, 1899
1899
p. 89
Citing this record
'Robert Anning Bell', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib2_1211885130, accessed 23 Mar 2023]
