Inspiring Older Readers

posted on 09 Dec 2015

The Wood Engravings of Blair Hughes-Stanton by Penelope Hughes-Stanton

Is there anything better than discovering a writer or artist that you had previously never come across and finding out that what they created was sublime? Well, perhaps I'm an idiot for never having heard of Blair Hughes-Stanton but I stumbled over his work entirely by happenstance when I picked up a plain, blue cloth volume in a second hand book shop and opened it to find wood engravings that are simply superb.

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The book was written by Hughes-Stanton's daughter, Penelope, and published by the Private Libraries Association - pretty obscure and not something you're likely to find in Waterstones. The text is informative but not over-long, there's a very good bibliography too but this all plays second fiddle to the illustrations. They are simply knock-out.

In his late teens Hughes-Stanton (1902-1981) flirted with joining the navy but after three years at sea in the Cadets he failed the Royal Navy entrance exam and resolved instead to be an artist so that he could always ensure he was his own boss. His talents in wood engraving blossomed at a time when he was being heavily influenced by the Modernist arts movement where he fell under the influence of D.H.Lawrence - an influence that is immediately obvious in his work. He went to study at the School of Painting and Sculpture in Hammersmith before becoming the head of the institution later in his career.

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A series of commissions to illustrate authors like T.E.Lawrence and Walter De La Mere followed - as did a complex love life. He was however firmly established as part of a bohemian artistic crowd by the time he joined the Gregynog Press as its artistic director. In 1934 he became a teacher at Westminster School but his work was often criticised as too 'pornographic' (more of the Lawrence influence) and this perception prevented him getting a job as a war artist in the Second World War. He later returned to teaching, married a former student and had two children with her - one of whom is the author of this book. His style clearly kept developing throughout his life and the influence of the abstract and of Henry Moore is clear to see.

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I was really delighted to discover Hughes-Stanton - it just goes to show how much more there is out there just waiting to inspire and surprise. 

 

Terry Potter

December 2015

 

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