Clare Leighton

Clare Leighton was born in London in April 1898. A multi-talented artist, she worked as a wood engraver, painter, illustrator, stained glass designer and writer - completing some fifty books.

She began her artistic training at Brighton School of Art and continued it at the Slade and Central Schools of Art in London. At Central she became a pupil of Noel Rooke, cutting her first wood engraving block in 1923.

In 1928 she became a member of the Society of Wood Engravers and in the same year was given her first illustrative commission to design illustrations for Thomas Hardy's novel - The Return of the Native.

Her unique engraving style is distinctive for its long, elegant curving lines. Wood engravings are cut on the cross of a piece of dense wood, such as pear or box which allows the engraver to cut fine lines into the engraving block. On printing, these produce fine white lines which Leighton skillfully employs to add detail to large dark areas. When the engravings are seen from a distance, her fineness of line produces an exquisite range of silvery greys.

Many of her illustrations show an understanding of the countryside - imposing a formal design upon nature in all its moods.

Some of her strongest designs show people at their workplace. She was sympathetic to the poverty and working conditions of the workforce she depicted. This understanding shines through in the images of workmen - solid and full of movement - who are heroic in the way they shear the sheep or clear the snow from the pavements of New York.

In 1938, she moved with her parents to the United States and quickly established herself - some of her most powerful prints coming after her emigration. She was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Design, New York and was Vice-President of the Society of American Graphic Arts and the National Institute of Arts and Letters in the USA. She taught at Duke University in the States. Clare Leighton died on the 3 November 1989.