biography of Clare LEIGHTON (1898-1989)

Birth place: London, England

Addresses: Woodbury, CT

Profession: Wood engraver, designer, writer

Studied: Slade Sch., Univ. London, 1921-23; Colby College (hon. D.F.A., 1940)

Exhibited: Venice Biennale (represented Great Britain); AIC (Logan med.); PAFA (Eyre med.)

Member: Royal Soc. Painters, Etchers & Engravers, London; NAD; SAGA (vice-pres.); Soc. Wood Engravers, London; NIAL, 1951 (vice-pres.).

Work: MMA; NMAA; LOC; AIC; BMFA; NYPL; BPL; Fogg AM; Baltimore AM; Cleveland AM; Nat. Gal., Stockholm, Sweden; British Mus.; Victoria & Albert Mus., London; Commissions: designed 33 stained glass windows, St Paul's Cathedral, Worcester, MA; mosaic, Convent Holy Family of Nazareth, Monroe, CT; 6 windows, Lutheran Church, Waterbury, CT; 2 windows, Methodist Church, Wellfleet, MA

Comments: She immigrated to the U.S. in 1938 and quickly became one of the most important figures in the resurgence of the fine art of wood engraving following its late 19th century demise owing to photography. Other conptemporary masters in wood engraving who were her peers were Rockwell Kent, Thomas Nason and Paul Laudacre. She became a citizen in 1948. Auth.: The Music Box; Sometime-Never; Give Us This Day; Where Land Meets Sea. and many others, including two on her medium: Woodcuts and Wood Engraving and The Woodcuts of the Thirties.

Sources: WW73; Pisano, One Hundred Years...the National Association of Women Artists, 66; Crotty, 53