Designer Desire: Sybil Andrews

Sybil Andrews was a talented and successful 20th century British artist best known for her colourful abstract linocut works.

Andrews (1898-1992) was a member of the Grosvenor School along with artists we’ve featured before – her long-time mentor and collaborator, Cyril Power and their tutor, Claude Flight.

During her career, she created at least 76 linocuts. Like many artists during the 1930s period, she was captivated by movement, sport, speed and the machine age and this shone through in her work. Like many of her Grosvenor School contemporaries, she was heavily influenced by the earlier UK Vorticism movement.

MoMa, New York, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Glenbow Museum, Calgary and Moyse’s Hall Museum (in her home town of Bury St Edmunds) hold examples of her work in their permanent collections.

Although originals and vintage limited edition prints of her work are expensive, you can buy new prints and cards from The Blank Card Company.

Published in 2015, the book, Sybil Andrews Linocuts: A Complete Catalogue by Hana Leaper is available from Abe Books.

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Additional image credits:
Artnet | The Blank Card Company

Designer Desire: Cyril Power

Cyril Power (1872-1951) was a leading lights of the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in London. He was tutored there by one of our earlier Designer Desire featured artists, Claude Flight. Power also taught at the school, lecturing on architecture.

Power’s subject matter was often about travel and sport – he made many studies of London Underground. His linocuts are full of movement, kinetic energy and speaks of the obsession with speed that was prevalent at that juncture of the 20^th century.

For a while, he shared a studio and often collaborated with fellow Grosvenor alumnus, Sybil Andrews until they parted ways in 1938. They produced posters for London Transport for events such as Wimbledon and the Epsom Derby. These works were signed jointly as ‘Andrew-Power’.

His work is in the permanent collections of, amongst others, The British Museum, National Galleries Scotland, London Transport Museum and MoMA.

Original, limited edition prints of his works can be regularly had at auction or new reprints are available on eBay.

There are a few of books dedicated to his back catalogue including The Linocuts of Cyril Edward Power 1872-1951 and Cyril Power Linocuts: A Complete Catalogue.

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Bookmarks: Our Isles

One of life’s simple pleasures is taking a bit of quiet time with a cup of coffee, a few biscuits and a good book… and we’ve been enjoying this wonderful little tome over the last few days.

A few weeks ago, we featured printmaker, Lilly Hedley in our Designer Desire series. While researching her and her work, we discovered that she and her partner, Angus D. Birditt, recently collaborated on, amongst many other things, a book. Our Isles is a lovely project which interweaves Angus’ poetry with Lilly’s illustrations.

The heart of home is where they flee
Amongst their thoughts to unwind and see,
At one with self, content to be
In space to find and wander free.

Having both spent their entire lives in the countryside, the pair direct their attentions towards many of Britain’s rural occupations, pastimes and craftspeople.

There’s the butcher, the baker… alas, no candlestick-maker! I think ‘The Printmaker’ may be an autobiographical addition!

Our Isles is divided into sections according to types of occupations; for instance, ‘With Tool in Hand’ encompasses tradespeople such as the potter, the thatcher and the farrier.

‘Amid Tides & Water’ includes professions such sailor, fisherman and salt harvester.

All of Angus’ poems take the form of double couplet AABB rhyming quatrains. They’re absolutely charming – and very accessible to those not overly accustomed to reading poetry. They perfectly capture the traditions, inspirations, routines and skills of the people intrinsic to countryside life.

Lilly’s monochrome linocut prints are absolutely beautiful. Some have a very contemporary look, others, an almost medieval feel.

At the rear of the book is a short glossary; it explains terms particular to the different trades. For instance, a ‘yealm’ is a bundle of organised straw in the thatching industry. And, ‘Goddes Good’ or ‘God is Good’, is an archaic term for yeast that is added during the brewing process.

[ Many thanks to Pavilion Books for the review copy of Our Isles ]

Designer Desire: Claude Flight

London-born Walter Claude Flight (1881-1955) was a pioneer in the linocut art discipline. Before becoming an artist, Flight trained as an engineer, became a librarian, kept bees and was a farmer.

His linocuts are full of colour and movement and illustrate the time’s preoccupation with speed, progress, modernism and the machine age.

Over his career, he produced over 60 limited-edition prints that, on the odd occasion, come up for sale at auction. Examples have sold at Sotherby’s for $20,000+ USD. Goldmark sell official reprints for £250.00. His work is in the permanent collections of the V&A, the British Museum and the National Gallery of Australia.

A couple of his books, namely Lino-cuts, Lino Cutting and Printing, Christmas and Other Feasts and Festivals and Animal, Vegetable or Mineral (shown in the montage above) all command huge prices on second-hand book seller websites.

From 1926, Claude Flight taught a linoleum cut class at the London Grosvenor School of Modern Art in Pimlico, London. His students included Sybil Andrews, Dorrit Black, Eileen Mayo, Cyril Power, Ethel Spowers, Eveline Symes, Lill Tschudi and his partner Edith Lawrence (whom he’d met a few years earlier). This talented lino cut collective became known as The Grosvenor School.

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Additional image credits:
Goldmark

H is for Home Harbinger

Tag: printing

Designer Desire: Sybil Andrews

Designer Desire: Cyril Power

Bookmarks: Our Isles

Designer Desire: Claude Flight