Artists prints 2

Historically many artists have provided original prints to illustrate books. Known as book plates and often originating from etchings, engravings, wood and lino cuts they have become very collectable works of art in their own right. We have examples from the 1930's by two artists who were renowned for their book plates.

Clare Leighton (1898-1989) worked in wood and is generally regarded as being one of the finest exponents of wood engraving/wood cuts of the 20th century. She also used to write books as well as illustrating them and is particularly known for her work depicting rural life and the harsh nature of the work that men and women often had to endure. One of her most famous and enduring works is a book from 1935 entitled Four Hedges-A Gardener's Chronicle which she wrote and illustrated with prints from wood engravings. Perhaps the most well known of Leighton's images, this picture is of women collecting apples. What stands out is the sense of movement but also of how hard the work is as illustrated by the woman carrying the apples in her apron. 

Clare Leighton from Four Hedges - 1935

A similar picture is this one of women picking fruit. Again she depicts how physical this work can be but also of their total concentration on the matter in hand. In both pictures the faces of the workers cannot be seen and there is no communication between them. A desire to 'do a good job' or the dehumanising nature of work?

Clare Leighton from Four Hedges - 1935

A second artist known for his book plates is Australian artist George David Perrottet (1890-1971) who signed his work GDP. He worked in lino cutting and etching and was known for illustrating  an early version of the novel The Blue Lagoon. Our print is a lino cut believed to be from the 1930's entitled Past the Park and is of a limited edition of 75. It is unclear if this was a book plate or stand alone print but the picture conjures up an image of a developing suburbia with the straight lines of the houses, walls and fences bringing both a modern look and neatness to the scene.