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Malcolm Osborne

3 of 5 portraits by Dorothy Hawksley

© Dorothy Hawksley / National Portrait Gallery, London

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Malcolm Osborne

by Dorothy Hawksley
chalk and watercolour, 1959
18 1/2 in. x 14 1/2 in. (470 mm x 368 mm)
Purchased, 1964
Primary Collection
NPG 4357

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  • Malcolm Osborne (1880-1963), Engraver and teacher. Sitter in 2 portraits, Artist or producer of 9 portraits.

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Events of 1959back to top

Current affairs

Harold Macmillan wins the general election with an increased majority, returning to office as Conservative prime minister. The victory was the result of perceived economic improvement under the Conservative government, and his (misquoted) boast: 'you've never had it so good.' During his premiership he earned the nickname 'Supermac', coined by cartoonist, Victor 'Vicky' Weisz.

Art and science

Claudia Jones organises the first West Indian-style carnival in the country, starting the tradition of the annual Notting Hill carnival. The event was a response to the race riots of 1958, and an attempt to celebrate West Indian culture and help overcome racial prejudice by giving the whole community the opportunity to join in the event.

International

Fidel Castro becomes leader of Cuba. After defeating the American-backed Batista government, Castro's revolutionary army arrived in Havana on 8th January where Castro proclaimed himself Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Within a month, Prime Minister José Miró Cardona had resigned, and Castro took over.
In Tibet, an uprising against Chinese rule is brutally crushed, and the Dalai Lama flees to India, beginning his long exile.

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Stephen Govier

17 May 2020, 13:13

Malcolm Osborne [1880-1963] was born at Frome, Somersetshire. He was educated at the Merchant Venturesrs Technical College in Bristol. From 1901 to 1906 he was taught to etch by frank Short at the Royal College of Art. During World War 1 he joined the Artist's Rifles and was in Salonika and Palestine. After the war he came back to London to teach and suceeded Sir Frank Short as Head of the Engraving School at the Royal College of Art in 1924. He was married to Amy Margaret Stableford [1884-1964]. Malcolm Osborne taught a number of well known artists during the 1930s and worked with Robert Austin [1895-1973] who took over from Osborne in 1946 as Head of the Engraving School at the Royal College of Art. Malcolm Osborne taught my father James Henry Govier [1910-1974] and he became the etching demonstrator in 1939. Osborne had an everlasting influence on the techniques used by the students he taught. His technical ability is shown in his work in depicting landscapes and studies of buildings and also in his portraits. Stephen Govier May 2020.