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Clare Leighton
(1898 - 1989)
The original designs for Southern Harvest, circa 1941
Clare Leighton (1898 - 1989)
Original woodblock, cancelled,
2 x 4 in. (5.3 x 10 cm)
Size:
Height – 5.3cm
Width – 10cm
Literature: Clare Leighton, An Exhibition ….Amercan Sheaves English Seed Corn…., The Boston Public Library, p 21.
Leightons epic project Psalms.
(The Book of Psalms [and] The First Psalm of David, the Book of
Proverbs [and] The Book of Ecclesiastes) was published by Doubleday,
1952. This image had particular poignancy for Leighton who devoted much
of her life to teaching art to children who – by virtue of their social
background – would not normally have had access to an education in art. Hear Ye Children was published in an edition of 75 from
this original (now cancelled) block. It is recorded as no. 664 in the Boston Public Library catalogue of Leighton’s work.
Clare Leighton was an artist, writer and wood engraver, best known for her illustrated books recording English rural life (The Farmer’s Year,
1933, Four Hedges, 1935), and her recording of life in Amercia
where she emigrated to in 1939. Southern Harvest, 1942 New England
Industries,1952, (produced for Wedgwood) are amongst the most
celebrated and poignant records of American rural life of their period.
Clare Leighton attended the Brighton School of Art (1915), the Slade School of Fine Art (1921’23) and the Central School of Arts and Crafts. Despite her childhood nickname ‘The Bystander’, she became a hugely visible artist on both sides of the Atlantic, and her vast oeuvre includes engravings, paintings, bookplates, illustrations and stained glass. Her twelve plates for Wedgwood, New England Industries, 1952, are amongst her best-known work.
She exhibited with the SWE in London (1923) and at the 1934 Venice Biennale ‘ attaining full membership to the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers in the same year. She also made several tours of the United States, becoming a naturalised citizen in 1945. By the time of her death, Leighton had authored twelve books and made over 840 prints.
