Frank Dobson was a sculptor, draughtsman and painter in oil and watercolour. Born in London, the son of an artist with whom he initially studied, Dobson first attended Leyton School of Art, 1900-1902, and was an apprentice studio boy with the sculptor Sir William Reynolds-Stephens, from 1902-4. After a time in Cornwall from 1906-1910, he was at Hospitalfield Art Institute, Arbroath, finally attending the City and Guilds School, Kennington, from 1910-1912. Although he made his first wood carvings just before World War 1, Dobson's first one-man show, at the Chenil Galleries in 1914, was of paintings and drawings. During World War I, he enlisted in Artists' Rifles and continued working, with the Imperial War Museum acquiring his large oil The Balloon Apron.
After the war Dobson met Percy Wyndham Lewis and exhibited with Group X in 1920; he had his first one-man show as a sculptor at Leicester Galleries in 1921. His first sculptures were very stylised, but later work was influenced by the work of Aristide Maillol. During the inter-war years, Dobson consolidated his reputation. With Jacob Epstein he was called ‘a keeper of tradition’, bridging classical and modern sculpture by making the backdrop for the first performance of William Walton's Façade.
He showed internationally, and in addition designed glazed pottery reliefs for Hay's Wharf, London. He completed his large carving Pax and other notable portraits. He was the official war artist in World War II. Later, he became Professor of sculpture at the Royal College of Art, from 1946-53. He was elected RA, in 1953. Dobson is represented in many public galleries, including the Tate Gallery. There was an Arts Council memorial exhibition in 1966, and a retrospective at Kettle's Yard Gallery in Cambridge from 1981-1982 which also toured. As well, there was a major retrospective at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, in 1994. His style influenced many younger painters, including Christopher Wood. He died in London.