Eric Gill
(1882-1940), Sculptor and typographerSitter in 56 portraits
Artist associated with 7 portraits
Gill was a wood engraver, sculptor, typographer and draughtsman, and is regarded as one of the most important English artist-craftsmen of the 20th century. He tried to revive a medieval religious attitude towards art, believing in social reform and in integration between craftsmanship and industry, art and religion. He was a prolific book-illustrator, and the cleanness and simplicity of his woodcuts and lettering in works such as his editions of Chaucer and the Gospels were very influential in the renaissance in English illustrated books. In 1989 Fiona MacCarthy’s biography of Gill made public details from his diaries which record his sexual abuse of his daughters, since then his reputation has been re-examined and he has become a controversial figure in British art.
by Eric Gill
pencil, 1927
NPG 4661
by Eric Gill
pencil, 1931
NPG 5196
Dom Wilfred Upson ('The Prior of Caldey')
by Eric Gill
line engraving, 1926
NPG D42719
by George Taylor Friend, probably after Eric Gill
electrotype of white metal medal, circa 1934
NPG D7037
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