Robert Anning Bell (1863-1933)

Painter and designer of mosaics, stained glass and coloured bas-reliefs. Born in London, he studied at Westminster School of Art under Frederick Brown, RA Schools and in Paris. He achieved wide recognition through the RA where he exhibited regularly from 1885. He specialised in landscapes, figure subjects and religious scenes and he was responsible for the mosaics in the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Cathedral. Elected an Associate of the RA in 1914, he became a full member in 1922. Bell belonged to the group of artist-craftsmen who brought about the last flowering of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. He painted in oil and watercolour and was among the pioneers of the revival of the use of tempera, becoming a member of the Society of Painters in Tempera. Anning Bell was also a member of the little-known Society of Twenty Five Painters and also contributed to the magazine Artwork and cartoons for mosaics by him were illustrated in the