John Luke

After his mother died, John Luke moved to a flat in Duncairn Gardens, Belfast, where he spent his later years, apparently in seclusion and poverty. He passed away on February 4, 1975, in Mater Hospital.

In 1978, his creations were exhibited at the Ulster Museum, in association with the Arts Council of Ireland, which included a short monograph recounting his life and career authored by John Hewitt.

John Luke was born on January 19, 1906, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to boilerman James Luke and Sarah.

He completed his education from Hillman Street National School in 1920 and started working as a riveter at the Workman and Clark Shipyard. He later joined York Street Flax Spinning Company where he used to cut fiber.

While working, he joined evening classes at the Belfast School of Art and secured first position in the ‘Object and Memory Drawing’ competition.

He lost his job in 1925, and this enabling him to attend day classes through Sorella Scholarship.

In 1927, he was awarded the Dunville Scholarship, through which he traveled to London to study fine art painting, sculpture, and drawing at the Slade School of Art, under the guidance of prominent art teacher, Henry Tonks.

After completing his course at the Slade, John Luke’s interest diverted towards sculpture and therefore he enrolled in evening classes at the Westminster School of Art to study wood-engraving under Walter Bayes.

In October 1930, two of his paintings—‘Entombment’ and ‘Carnival’—were put on display at Leger Galleries.

He returned back to Belfast in 1931, and took up teaching at Belfast College of Art, where he earned recognition for his composed nature and structured lifestyle.

Inspired by Japanese prints and woodcuts, along with Russian ballet and wood engravings seen in book illustrations, he incorporated color wood-cuts in his paintings, like ‘Farmhouse’, ‘The Fox’, ‘The Three Dancers’, and ‘The Rehearsal’.

In 1933, he displayed his artworks with the Northern Ireland Guild of Artists and at the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA), Dublin.

Even though John Luke wasn’t fond of painting self portraits, he created ‘The Tipster’ (1928), a larger depiction of imaginative illusionism which was pictorially descriptive of the term ‘tipster’.

His sculpture ‘Head of a woman in profile’ (1940) is a perfect example of direct carving of Yorkshire stone. It is known for its quality, strength and durability, and represents his characteristic stylization without adding any accurate features.

He came into international limelight when he painted a mural in the City Hall’s dome, depicting the history of London, to mark the celebration of the Festival of Britain in 1951.

Some of his distinguished paintings are ‘Connswater Bridge’ (1934), ‘The Road to the West’ (1944), ‘The Old Callan Bridge’ (1945), and ‘The Dancer and the Bubble’ (1947).