H. M. Bateman

In 1901, the cartoonist Phil May, in response to a letter from Rose, showed interest in his drawings, and that year he was inspired by an exhibition of black-and-white art at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

He did well but was bored by the lifeless "life" classes and after qualifying at Westminster transferred his study to the New Cross Art School.

[citation needed] Bateman's first solo exhibition in 1901 was at the Brook Street Gallery, Mayfair, in central London.

[citation needed] His first contract was in 1904, for ten drawings and two illustrations in a fourpenny monthly magazine called The Royal.

An English Heritage blue plaque, unveiled in 1997, commemorates Bateman at 40 Nightingale Lane in Clapham south London.