John Luke was born in Belfast, and was educted at Hillman Street National School, and became a riveter's boy in the shipyards. He later worked in the York Street Flax-spinning Co. and attended the School of Art for evening classes. He won the Sorella Scholarship, which enabled him to attend day classes. In 1927 the Dunville award meant he was able to study at the Slade School of Art, London, and during his stay he won the Robert Ross Scholarship. He worked for a short period in London, exhibiting at the Westminster School of Art, but returned to Belfast in 1931. He exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, and in 1938 assisted Morris Harding in the work for the Northern Ireland government's pavilion at the Glasgow Empire Exhibition. During the air raids in Belfast in 1941, he went to live in Killylea, County Armagh. A one-man exhibition was held in 1946 in the Ulster Museum. He painted a large mural in the dome of the City Hall, Belfast, which was commissioned to commemorate the Festival of Britain in 1951. Another of his murals is in the Masonic Hall in Rosemary Street, Belfast. He was a member of the Royal Ulster Academy. He carved two coats of arms for Lord Wakehurst and Lord Erskine, both in Hillsborough. The Ulster Museum has 'Natas', his self-portrait, painted in 1928. Other works include 'The Rehearsal'; 'The Dancer' and a portrait of Roberta Hewitt.

Born:	1906
Died:	1975