Apr, 13, 2021
Artists
A Curator’s View: The Art of Clare Leighton
PhxArt assistant curator Rachel Sadvary Zebro examines a wood-engraving by artist Clare Leighton, on view now in Out of Print: Innovations of 19th– and 20th-Century Printmaking from the Collection of Phoenix Art Museum and the Schorr Collection
Clare Leighton, Woman with Flowers (Mujer con flores), 1937. Woodblock. Gift of Mrs. David Higham. Courtesy of the Artist’s estate.
“Clare Leighton (1898-1989) grew up in an artistic family in London, England, and showed tremendous talent as an artist, illustrator, and printmaker. At an early age, she perfected her craft of white and black wood-engraving and wrote and illustrated numerous books that were inspired by her travels to the countryside. Leighton grew up at the turn of the 20th century and witnessed the rapid effects of urbanization. Thus, at the heart of her graphic oeuvre is a celebration of rural life and an intimate portrayal of the men and women who worked the lands. In these powerful depictions, Leighton uses bold and striking contrasts of black and white to capture the essence of land and labor, such as the twists and turns of the hillsides, the woven patterns of the fields, and the curved lines of the figures as they dynamically move throughout the landscape.
During her career, Leighton created more than 700 woodblock prints and wrote 15 books. Woman with Flowers (1937) is one of more than 70 wood-engravings that she published in 1937 to accompany her book, Country Matters. In her woodblock print, she imposes negative space and combines single curved lines with gradations of light and dark tones to direct our attention to the full body of the figure carrying a heavy bundle of freshly picked flowers and a full basket of vegetation. Gently resting her head on the blooms, this unassuming yet towering figure cradles the flowers and holds onto them tightly as her dress billows in the wind. An intimate and bold design, Woman with Flowers acts as a record of the forgotten forms, colors, and textures of nature and its elements, reminding us of the importance of the countryside and the people who labor and depend on the land to survive. The work is on view now in Out of Print, which seeks to broaden the understanding of the history of printmaking in Europe and the United States, with a particular focus on the integral role of women artists in the innovation and development of various printmaking techniques still used today.”