Clare Leighton: From Pencil to Proof to Press

This display of approximately 25 drawings, prints, posters, porcelain, and books by the Anglo-American artist Clare Leighton (1898–1989) comes from a local and rarely seen private collection. Born and raised in Great Britain, Leighton moved to America in 1939, residing first in Baltimore, then North Carolina, and finally, in Connecticut. She is acclaimed for her central role in the Arts and Crafts revival of British wood engraving. Her commissioned book illustrations set a new standard in commercially produced literature, while her own writings revived interest in early-to-mid-century rural culture. As the first woman to produce a book on the art of wood engraving (Wood-Engraving and Woodcuts, 1932), Leighton played a key role in popularizing the medium. This exhibition, shared with the University of Richmond’s Harnett Museum of Art, features examples of Leighton’s watercolors, government posters, and wood engravings for novels by Emily Bronte, Thomas Hardy, and Thornton Wilder as well as volumes on Southern and New England country life. It is organized for VMFA by Chief Curator and Cochrane Curator of American Art Sylvia Yount.