George Lambourn facts for kids

George Lambourn (born 1900, died 1977) was a British artist. Even though he was born in London, he spent most of his life living in Cornwall.

Early Life and Art Training

George Lambourn was born in Rotherhithe, London. In 1916, during World War I, he joined the Royal Naval Air Service. He trained as an observer with a squadron in Scotland.

After the war, George worked in Bruges, Belgium. He helped design a factory there. While in Bruges, he became very interested in art and painting. This led him to study art at Goldsmiths and the Royal Academy Schools from 1921 to 1926. He also studied briefly in Paris.

Moving to Cornwall

In 1926, George got married and moved to Sussex. Later, he and his wife and their two children settled in Brooke near Norwich. There, Lambourn started painting portraits. One famous portrait he finished in 1932 was of Augustus John.

In 1936, Lambourn first visited Mousehole near Penzance in Cornwall. He loved it so much that he bought an old school building there. He turned it into his art studio when he moved to Cornwall in 1938.

Sports and First Exhibition

George Lambourn was also a big sports fan. He was one of the first people in Britain to earn a judo black belt. He was even chosen for the British Olympic kayak team in 1936.

In 1938, Lambourn had his first art show by himself at the Matthiessen Gallery. One of the paintings shown was Portrait of a Communist. This is probably his most famous work and is now kept at the Tate museum.

World War II Service

When World War II began, Lambourn joined the Red Cross. In early 1940, he went to France. He worked in an ambulance unit as part of the British Expeditionary Force.

Lambourn was later sent to a Field Dressing Station. This was a place where wounded soldiers were treated. He was helping the troops covering the retreat from Calais. He was badly wounded and was evacuated on one of the last boats during the Dunkirk evacuation. He was later recognized for his bravery.

Decorating for Soldiers

In July 1940, Lambourn joined the British Volunteer Ambulance Corps. He was in charge of a section. After his time with the Ambulance Corps, he painted several artworks at the Hawksley aircraft factory in Gloucester. These included Test Pilots, a large painting with many people.

He also decorated the canteen at the factory. This led to a special job with the new Army Decorating Service. His task was to decorate canteens and rest centers for the Eighth Army. He often used both prisoners of war and British soldiers to help him. Lambourn decorated these places as the Allies moved through North Africa, Italy, and then into Austria. While in Italy in 1944, he met Spike Milligan, who was a soldier recovering from shell shock. During the war, Lambourn also painted several pictures of the refugees he met. A few of these paintings were bought by the War Artists' Advisory Committee.

After the War

After the war, Lambourn went back to Mousehole in Cornwall. He ran the Merlin Theatre from the old school building he had bought. He ran the theatre until 1951.

In 1950, he had another solo art show. This show was supported by the Arts Council and held at the City Art Gallery in Plymouth. After a difficult experience with a gallery in Cork Street, Lambourn mostly showed his art at smaller local galleries. His last show was at the Newlyn Art Gallery in 1976. A special exhibition to remember Lambourn was held at the Gordon Hepworth Gallery in Exeter in 1991.

Art Restoration

One of his paintings, of Yukio Tani, is owned by The Budokai. This painting was restored by Lucia Scalisi in August 2018. This was shown on the BBC Television program The Repair Shop.