ROBERT HOPE, R.S.A. (1869 - 1936)

 
 
PORTRAIT OF A LADY
 
 
Signed l.l. R. Hope
Oil on panel
34.3 x 24 cm | 40.5 x 30.5 cm (Framed)
 
 
 
 
 
Born in Edinburgh, Hope was originally a lithographic draftsman, afterwards working on designs for printers and book illustration. He studied at the School of Design in Edinburgh, where he was awarded a National gold medal, and then at the Royal Scottish Academy Life School. At the latter, he won prizes for both painting and drawing, as well as the Chalmers Bursary. Afterwards, he studied in at the Academie Julien in Paris. 
 
 
Hope was elected to the Royal Scottish Academy as an Associate in 1911, later becoming a full member in 1925. In 1910, he served as Chairman of the Society of Scottish Artists. His diploma work was a luscious portrait of a recumbent lady entitled Glints of Gold. Hope's The Charm is in the Glasgow Corporation Collection. He is also represented in Wellington Art Gallery in New Zealand, the Stirling Smith Art Gallery, the Paisley Museum, the Harris Museum, the Glasgow Museums and the Dundee Art Gallery (among others). 
 
 
Hope was varied in his work, painting both landscape and figures, portraits and some large decorative schemes. His first notable commission in decoration was for the ballroom of Manderston House. He also painted the Blue Blanket in Edinburgh City Chambers, and the apse of St. Cuthbert’s Church in the city. In 1921, Hope was commissioned to paint a monumental depiction of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland addressed by Karl Haig.