Gwen Raverat (1885-1957) was a wood engraver, illustrator
painter, designer and writer.. She was the daughter of the Cambridge University professor
of astronomy Sir George Darwin, and described her early life in the city with great charm
in Period Piece. She studied painting from1908-1911, at the Slade School of Fine
Art under Henry Tonks, Fred Brown and Philip Wilson Steer. From an early age, she had
admired the wood engravings of Thomas Bewick, so she took instruction in engraving from
her cousin by marriage Elinor Monsell, then was self-taught. She married the artis Jacques
Raverat in 1911, and they lived in France. When he died from illness in 1925, she returned
to England and eventually to her Cambridge home. In 1931, she designed scenery and
costumes for Ralph Vaughan Williams’ ballet Job, A Masque for Dancing. She was
art critic for Time and Tide Magazine from 1928-1939. During World War II she served as a
draughtswoman in Naval Intelligence. She exhibited at NEAC, the Redfern Gallery, RSA, RHA.
She illustrated many books, including Frances Cornford’s Spring Morning, 1915,
Laurence Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey, 1932, and Charlotte M. Yonge’s
Countess Kate, 1948. The British Museum holds her work, as do many private collections
including the Fitzwilliam Gallery in Cambridge.She was a descendant
of Charles Darwin, and many of her engravings reflect Cambridge life, where she lived for
part of her life.
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