Robert Lyon DA (Glas), FRSA

Active: 1936 - 1964

Principal of art school, sculptor

During the period 1935-40, Robert Lyon exhibited at the Royal Glasgow Institute and became art master at Dumfries Academy. After serving in the army during the Second World War, he joined Nottingham College of Art (1946) as a Head of Department. Lyon was promoted to Deputy Principal in 1951, and was Principal between 1958-69. Following the merger of the Art College with the Nottingham Regional College of Technology to form Trent Polytechnic in 1969, Lyon became Deputy Director of the new institution. He held this position until his retirement at the end of summer term in 1976.

A member of the Court of Nottingham University during his Principalship of the Art College, Lyon played a prominent role in the development of art education at national, regional and local levels. He was Chair of the East Midlands District of the National Society of Art Education and a member of the National Council of the Association of Art Institutions amongst other roles. From 1969, he was Chair of the National Committee of Management of Art Teacher Training Centres in England and Wales and also of the Advisory Panel for Art and Design Education of the East Midlands Regional Advisory Council for Further Education.

Known works include a Portrait Bust of Jeremy Thorpe MP (c.1956) and a bronze plaque with a portrait in profile of Henry Hicken OBE, for Derbyshire Miners' Association (c.1956). Lyon wrote 'A History of Nottingham College of Art and Design 1843-1968', published by George Searson Ltd, Nottingham, 1968.

This entry includes information supplied by Elizabeth Robinson (former student at Nottingham School of Art). The detailed biography was submitted by Adrian Hicken based on research in Nottinghamshire County Archive Deposited Documents DD SA SB; Harry Hicken Private papers; Nottingham Evening Post, 16 June 1976, p.11; J Johnson and A Greutzner, The Dictionary of British Artists 1880-1940, Woodbridge: the Antique Collectors' Club, [1976] reprint ed., 1980; Carol A Jones, A History of Nottingham School of Design, Nottingham: the Nottingham Trent University, 1993.

Citing this record

'Robert Lyon DA (Glas), FRSA', 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=msib4_1226934230, accessed 02 Apr 2023]