He was born in
Newcastle on Tyne, and from the age of 16 followed his father in working as a glassmaker (then a major industry in the city). He attended evening classes in art run by
William Cosens Way (1833-1905), who was Director of the Newcastle upon Tyne School of Art, and mainly painted landscape
watercolours. Jobling later became "foreman painter in a shipyard", while exhibiting in local art exhibitions. After an unusually successful one of these in 1899, he finally devoted himself to painting full time. His second wife Isabella (Isa) Jobling (née Thompson) (1851–1926), who he married in 1903, was also a painter in a similar style, as was his son from his first marriage, Joseph Jobling (1870-1930). Isa had studied in Paris. Jobling lived in
Whitley Bay (near Cullercoats) and was a prominent member of the Cullercoats artist colony, along with
Henry Emmerson, and various other artists including
Winslow Homer. In 1890, the
Newcastle Daily Journal wrote, "Mr. Jobling has made Cullercoats famous for his canvases, and by-the-by he will be famous for over-running the village with tourists." After about 1900 inland rural scenes became more common in his work, and he also painted some city vies, as well as scenes in Scotland, and on the continent. In 1910 he was elected President of the Bewick Club, an organization to encourage the arts in the North-East. The
Laing Art Gallery in
Newcastle on Tyne has several paintings, and other museums have examples. In 1992-93 the Laing held an exhibition "Robert & Isa Jobling: A Romance With The North East", with a published catalogue. File:Robert Jobling (1841-1923) - Pleasant Times - TWCMS , B653 - Laing Art Gallery.jpg|
Pleasant Times, oil, Laing File:Robert Jobling (1841-1923) - The Lifeboat Off - TWCMS , C695 - Laing Art Gallery.jpg|
The Lifeboat Off, 1884, oil, Laing File:Robert Jobling (1841-1923) - Darkness Falls from the Wings of Night - TWCMS , B6680 - Laing Art Gallery.jpg|
Darkness Falls from the Wings of Night, 1886, oil, Laing File:Robert Jobling (1841-1923) - Hauling the Boats - TWCMS , F9118 - Laing Art Gallery.jpg|
Hauling the Boats, 1890, oils, Laing File:Robert Jobling (1841-1923) - On the Tyne - NEWHG-OP.0116 - Hatton Gallery.jpg|
On the Tyne, oil, 1920 == References ==