Adrian Hill
| Adrian Hill | |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 March 1895 Charlton, London |
| Died | 1977 |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | |
| Known for | painting and writing |
Adrian Keith Graham Hill (24 March 1895 – 1977) was a British artist, author, art therapist, educator and broadcaster. Hill served with the Honourable Artillery Company during World War One and was the first artist commissioned by the Imperial War Museum to record the conflict on the Western Front. He wrote many books about painting and drawing, and in the 1950s and early 1960s presented a BBC children's television programme called Sketch Club.
Hill was born in Charlton, London, and educated at Dulwich College. He went on to study at the St John's Wood Art School between 1912 and 1914. After his war service Hill studied at the Royal College of Art in 1919 and 1920.
At the start of World War One Hill enlisted with the Honourable Artillery Company and, due to his artistic abilities was assigned to a Scouting and Sniping Section. This work often involved operating in front of the Allied trenches to sketch the disposition of the enemy. Later in life, Hill recalled a typical such patrol into no man's land:
"I advanced in short rushes, mostly on my hands and knees with my sketching kit dangling round my neck. As I slowly approached, the wood gradually took a more definite shape, and as I crept nearer I saw that what was hidden from our own line, now revealed itself as a cunningly contrived observation post in one of the battered trees."
In 1917 Hill became the first artist commissioned by the, then newly created, Imperial War Museum to record scenes on the Western Front. Between 1917 and 1919 Hill produced 180 pen-and-ink drawings showing the examples of the devastation in France and Belgium and the work of troops of different nationalities in the trenches. These drawings were highly regarded but the IWM rejected a number of additional paintings submitted by Hill as being outside his brief.
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