Eric Gill

Eric Gill (18821940) is one of the twentieth centurys most controversial artists. This illustrated introduction focuses on the clarity of Gills drawn and cut line. It explores his genius as a letter cutter, wood engraver, sculptor and typographer in the light of his refined finished drawings and preparatory sketches. Like all modernists of the early twentieth-century, he used stylised form, explicit sexuality and the influence of other cultures to position himself at the forefront of the avant-garde. An outsider and a radical, Gill nevertheless became one the establishments favourite artists, with his patrons including the Catholic Church, the Lord Chancellors office, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Mint, the London Underground, the BBC, the Post Office and the League of Nations. The authors illuminate here the quality, complexities and contradictions of Gills fascinating life and art.