Clare Leighton: From Pencil to Proof to Press opens at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art and Print Study Center, University of Richmond Museums, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, on October 18, 2013. On view at both institutions through April 6, 2014, the exhibition features prints, posters, porcelain plates, and bookplates created by artist, author, and illustrator Clare Leighton (American, born England, 1898-1989), drawn from The Evelyn Lloyd Phaup Collection, lent by the Hudson Family. The overall exhibition includes more than 100 works.
Born and raised in England, Leighton came to the United States in 1939 and became a naturalized citizen in 1945. Upon her arrival, she first lived in Maryland, then North Carolina, eventually settling in Connecticut. She was captivated by America’s abundant natural resources, its vitality, and people. Her experience as both an observer and a participant in American life informs her work, conveying the close relationship between people and the environment.
Leighton created drawings and watercolors, as well as designing posters for the London Transit system, but she is best known for her wood engravings of rural subjects in England and America. Leighton trained at the Brighton School of Art, the Slade School of Fine Art, the University of London, and the London County Council Central School of Arts and Crafts, where she studied wood engraving under Noel Rooke.
Leighton became a central figure in the revival of British wood engraving, and set a new standard for its style and production, contributing to the medium’s growing popularity in the 1920s and 1930s. Leighton’s wood engravings are characterized by powerful contrasts of white and black tones, and her prints emphasize the importance of precision and simplicity. She wrote and illustrated studies, as well as producing images for new editions of literary classics such as The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. The exhibition includes examples of this work as well as from her own books, such as Southern Harvest and Where Land Meets Sea: The Enduring Cape Cod, which contain personal impressions of her new home.
The exhibition is organized by the University of Richmond Museums and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, and curated by Sylvia Yount, Chief Curator and Cochrane Curator of American Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and Richard Waller, Executive Director, University Museums, with assistance from Lourdes Figueroa, ’13, 2013 Harnett Summer Research Fellow, University Museums, University of Richmond.
Sunday, October 20, 2013, 1 to 4 p.m.
Family Arts Day Celebration!
University Museums and Modlin Center for the Arts
Free! arts-centered family fun day with tours of the exhibitions in the Harnett Museum of Art, hands-on art activities in the Booth Lobby and Modlin Courtyard, entertainment, refreshments, and special guests Dan Zanes and Elizabeth Mitchell
3 p.m., Performance, Camp Concert Hall featuring Dan Zanes and Elizabeth Mitchell (paid tickets required for performance, for information visit modlin.richmond.edu)
Monday, October 21, 2013, 7 to 9 p.m.
7 p.m., Lecture, Camp Concert Hall, Modlin Center for the Arts
“Exploring Clare Leighton’s Wood Engravings of English and American Country Life”
Caroline Mesrobian Hickman, art and architectural historian
8 to 9 p.m., Reception and viewing of the exhibition Clare Leighton: From Pencil to Proof to Press
Harnett Museum of Art and Print Study Center, University Museums
Tuesday, October 22, 2013, 11 a.m. to Noon
Gallery Talk, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (meet at the visitor services desk)
Caroline Mesrobian Hickman, art and architectural historian
In conjunction with the exhibition Clare Leighton: From Pencil to Proof to Press
Friday, November 1, 2013, 1 to 3 p.m.
Printmaking Workshop, Printmaking Studio, Visual Arts Building, room 312, Modlin Center for the Arts
Brooke Inman, artist, and Adjunct Professor of Art, University of Richmond
Free, but registration required, call Heather Campbell, Curator of Museum Programs, University Museums, 804-287-6324, or e-mail hcampbel@richmond.edu
In conjunction with the exhibition Clare Leighton: From Pencil to Proof to Press
Friday, November 15, 2 to 2:30 p.m.
Curator’s Talk, Harnett Museum of Art and Print Study Center, Modlin Center for the Arts
“The Wood Engravings of Clare Leighton”, Lourdes Figueroa, ’13, art history and Russian studies double major, University of Richmond,
2013 Harnett Summer Research Fellow, University Museums, and curatorial assistant of the exhibition Clare Leighton: From Pencil to Proof to Press
