St Thomas's Church, Stepney (1931)
Elwin Hawthorne, born in Poplar in 1905, was a British painter and member of the East London Group.
He left school at 14 without qualifications and, while unemployed, took art classes at Bethnal Green Men's Institute and Bow & Bromley Evening Institute. Hawthorne then worked as an assistant to Walter Sickert for three years.
His subjects included buildings in London, such as St John-at-Hampstead and the now-demolished St Andrew's church in Vanbrugh Park. In 1936, one of his paintings was displayed in the British pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
During the Second World War, Hawthorne served in the army, which brought an end to his exhibiting career.
Hawthorne died at King George Hospital in Ilford on 15 October 1954, at the age of 49.
