ARTISTS' BIOGRAPHIES

BASKETT, CHARLES H.
English artist. (1872-1953)
Charles Henry Baskett was a significant 20th century etcher and aquatint engraver who first studied art under his father, C.E. Baskett. He continued his studies at the Colchester School of Art and at the Lambeth School of Art before completing his studies under Frank Mura. Charles Baskett, although a fine etcher, has received greater recognition for his aquatint engravings.

BEJOT, EUGENE
French artist. Born Paris, 1867
Died 1931
Bejot was born in Paris and studied at the Academie Julian. He began etching in 1891. He met Seymour Haden who helped him win admission to the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers. Bejot's technique was both precise and involved, yet his prints have a lightly handled, simplified appearance similar to those of Whistler. He is most famous for his series of etchings Arrondissements de Paris.

BAUER, MARIUS
Dutch artist. Born 1867
Died 1932
Marius Alexander Jacques Bauer was born in La Haye, where he studied under Salomon van Witsen. Marius Bauer travelled widely in the Orient - in Egypt, Turkey, and India - and is noted above all as an Orientalist. Bauer also designed Vincent van Gogh's bookplate.

BRIGHTWELL, LEONARD ROBERT
English artist. (1889-1983)
Brightwell studied at the Lambeth School of Art in London and was an eminent British etcher and illustrator of animal subjects. He regularly visited the Zoological Gardens as an important part of his reference for his work. He was commissioned by the Zoological and Marine Biological Associations and other museums to make scientific drawings during the first half of the 20th century. Brightwell's talent was portraying a range of animal emotions.

BROUET, AUGUSTE
French artist. Born Paris, 1872
Died 1941
Auguste Brouet was one of the finest original etchers of early twentieth century French art. He created over 300 drypoints and etchings during his career. Brouet was first apprenticed to a lithographer and then a lute maker, taking classes at the École des Beaux-Arts as time and money became more readily available to him. His first original etchings date from just after 1900. Many of Brouet's works deal with the poor and working classes of Paris and the surrounding countryside. Some scholars have compared Brouet's work to the etchings of Rembrandt, as they both shared an affinity for compositional settings and a deep concern for humanity. In later life he became enthralled with the singers, dancers, and circus life of Paris.

CAIN, CHARLES W.
English artist. Born 1893
Died 1962
Cain was a student of Camberwell School of Art and then an illustrator cartoonist for the Johannesburg Star until WWI when he joined the Border Regiment in India and Mesopotania until Armistance, and entered the Royal College of Art under Frank Short 1920-1. During the 1920s and 1930s Cain produced 74 original etchings and engravings, all published in London by Greatorex. The large majority of his prints deal with scenes in Iraq, Persia, Indian and Burma, and Cain developed a strong reputation as a major Orientalist printmaker. Today, a large collection of Charles W. Cain's drypoints will be found at the British Museum, London.

DAVIS, WILLIAM BROCKMAN
English artist. Born 1892
William Brockman Davis was a skilful etcher whose prints first appeared in the late 1920s. He is best known for his minutely observed Still Lifes of marine subjects.

DYER, IRENE
Australian-South African artist. Born Perth, 1890
Died Durban, 1954
She commenced painting professionally in 1929 and painted landscapes, mainly in watercolour, her work showed regularly in Lezard's Gallery, Johannesburg. She is represented in the Pretoria Art Museum.

FORAIN, JEAN-LOUIS
French artist. (1852-1931)
A native of Reims, France - Forain was painter, illustrator, caricaturist and etcher. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and was particularly interested in Rembrandt and Goya. The quality in which Forain is pre-eminent is his sense of the dramatic in human affairs - in this he shows his indebtedness to his great predecessor in France, Honore Daumier. As Lumsden in 'The Art of Etching' says, "There have been many very good etchers in modern France, but none that, in any work which I have seen, can be ranked with Forain".

HALL THORPE, JOHN
British/Australian artist. Born 1874
Died 1947
John Thorpe was a leading woodcut artist of the early twentieth century. Most of his woodcuts were created between 1920 and 1927 and were widely collected for both their superb colourations and strong Art Deco forms. He published all the prints himself. Hall Thorpe studied at the Sydney Art Society, Heatherley's and St. Martin's School of Art. He then worked as both an artist and engraver on the staff of the Sydney Mail. Known equally well for both his landscapes and floral studies, his paintings and woodcuts were the subject of one man exhibitions in Paris and London. Shortly before the beginning of the First World War, John Hall Thorpe moved to London.

HANKEY, WILLIAM LEE
English painter and printmaker. Born Chester, England, 1869
Died 1952
Lee-Hankey was a painter and printmaker. He studied at Chester College of Art , at the Royal College of Art and then in Paris. He lived in France for a time and produced a body of work of French villages and Breton peasants. He taught etching at London Goldsmith's college and exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy. His figure study etchings show great technical virtuosity.

HAW, CHRISTOPHER
South African artist. Born 1941
Christopher Haw, one of South Africa's foremost realist impressionists and a Fellow of the Water Colour Society of SA. His exhibitions have been seen throughout South Africa, UK (St. James' Gallery, London), Jersey in the Channel Islands and Milano, Italy, where he was lauded Master in his field.

HUBBARD, ERIK HESKETH
English artist. Born London 1892.
Died 1957
Hubbard studied at Croydon School of Art, South Western Polytechnic and the Westminster School of Art. By the age of 30 he had exhibited at the RA and the Paris Salon. He became interested in printmaking as a means to reproduce designs, starting out as an etcher but becoming a noted exponent of the colour wood cut and lino cut. He was founder and director of the Forest Press and also a leading figure in the Print Society. He was attracted to the life of gypsies and the fairground and gave particular attention to skies and cloud patterns. His style is direct and simple but his handling of light reveals a deeper artistic understanding of his media and subject.

ISRAELS, JOZEPH
Dutch artist, Born Groningen, 27 Jan 1824
Died Scheveningen, 12 Aug 1911
Israels was one of the most respected Dutch artists of the second half of the nineteenth century. As a watercolour painter and etcher he produced a vast number of works, which, like his oil paintings, are full of deep feeling. They are generally treated in broad masses of light and shade, which give prominence to the principal subject without any neglect of detail.

LEGROS, ALPHONSE
French-British artist. Born Dijon, France 8 May 1837
Died Hertfordshire, England 8 Dec 1911
French-born british painter, etcher and sculptor remembered chiefly for his graphics. Excellent draftsman, he taught in London and re-vitalized British drawing and printmaking during a low period.

LUMSDEN, ERNEST STEPHEN
English artist. Born London, 22 Dec 1883
Died Edinburgh, 29 Sept 1948
An acclaimed etcher and authority on etching. Lumsden studied in Reading then taught in Edinburgh. He was elected an associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers in 1909. From 1929 - 1947 he was President of the Society of Artist-Printers. Between 1905 and 1946 Lumsden produced some 350 etchings many of which are represented in a collection held in the Burnaby Art Gallery, British Columbia, Canada.

MIDDLETON TODD, ARTHUR RALPH
English artist. (1891 - 1966)
Middleton Todd was born in Cornwall. He studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and then at the Slade. He achieved early success with his etchings of women. He also worked in watercolour and pastel. He taught art and painted portraits of members of the British establishment. Todd's favourite subject remained that of young women.

OSBORNE, MALCOLMN
English artist. (1880 - 1963)
Malcolm Osborne was born in Frome, Somerset. He studied at Bristol School of Art and the Royal College of Art, London, under Sir Frank Short. Osborne succeeded Short as head of the etching and engraving school. Osborne produced just over a hundred prints - portraits, land and townscapes of Britain and Europe.

RHODES, MARION
English artist. (1907 - 1998)
Rhodes studied at Huddersfield School of Art, Leeds School Of Art (1925-1929) and the Central School of Art and Design, London (1934-39). She taught art before moving to London. Rhodes went on to teach in the city and in the south of England for most of her life though she exhibited her etchings and drawings at the Royal Academy, the Royal Scottish Academy and the Paris Salon.

RUSHBURY, HENRY
English artist. (1889 - 1968)
Rushbury was born in 1889 near Birmingham. He was a painter, draughtsman and etcher. He studied at Birmingham College of Art and studied for six months at the Slade School 1921. He was encouraged by Francis Dodd to begin making etchings. He married the artist Florence Lazell in 1914. He was an official war artist in 1914-18 and 1940-5. His first one-man show was at the Grosvenor Galleries in 1921.

SEYMOUR-HADEN, FRANCIS
English artist. Born London, 16 Sept 1818
Died 1 June 1910
Haden was an English surgeon and best known as an etcher. In 1843-44 he travelled to Italy and made his first sketches from nature. Haden's printmaking was influenced by his brother-in-law James Whistler for a time. He founded the Royal Society of Printer-Etchers in 1880.

SHARLAND, EDWARD W.
British artist. Born 1911
Sharland was an English architectural and landscape etcher; he was a full member of the Fine Art Trade Guild. His etchings were exhibited in Liverpool, Bristol and at the Royal West of England Academy and at the Royal Academy, London. Specializing in colour etchings, much of Sharland's work was published in London by either Frost and Reed or Bell.

SHORT, SIR FRANK
English printmaker. Born Worcestershire, England, 19 June 1857
Died England, 22 Mar 1945
Short trained as an engineer but abandoned this career for art. He studied at Royal College of Art and Westminster Schools of Art, London. He won gold medals at the Paris Salon for engraving. He taught engraving at the Royal College of Art. He was President of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers from 1910 to 1939, and in this capacity he was awarded a knighthood. He produced some 209 etchings and drypoints. The Tate Gallery has a Sir Frank Short collection.

SQUIRREL, LEONARD R.
English artist. Born Ipswich, 30 Oct 1893
Died UK, 10 Jul 1979
Etcher and aquatint engraver of landscapes and architectural views. Born in Ipswich, he studied at the School of Art there as well as at the Slade.

STRANG, CAPTAIN IAN
English artist. RE, Royal Engineers. Born 1886
Died 1952
Ian Strang was an etcher, draughtsman, illustrator and painter of architecture, landscape and figures in oils and watercolour. He studied at the Slade between 1902 and 1906, and then at the Academie Julian. Strang then spent some years travelling throughout Europe. He held his first solo exhibition in 1914 and exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1923 and 1951. Strang's work is represented in collections including the Tate Gallery. A member of the Faculty of Engraving at the British School in Rome, Strang published "The Student's Book of Etching" (1938). Well-known as an etcher, his early work used dry-point to produce tonal, pictorial effects whilst his later prints used a pure etching technique.

VARLEY, JOHN
English watercolour painter. Born 17 Aug 1778
Died 17 Nov 1842
Varley was a close friend of William Blake and they collaborated in 1819-1820 on the book Visionary Heads, written by Varley and illustrated by Blake As one of the founders of the Old Watercolour Society in 1805, Varley exhibited largely there - over 700 drawings.

WILSON, Eli Marsden
British artist. Born 1877
Died 1965
Wilson attended Wakefield College of Art before moving to the Royal College of Art in London where he became a pupil of Sir Frank Short - an eminent painter and etcher. At the turn of the century, there was a revival in the art of etching and by the early 1900s it was a profitable art form. Eli Marsden Wilson returned to his roots for his first commercial etching, which was a scene showing Ossett Market and a version of this etching can be seen today at Wakefield Art Gallery where it can be viewed by prior arrangement.

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