John Buckland Wright (1897-1954) was a painter and
draughtsman, but primarily an etcher and engraver who was self-taught. Born in Dunedin,
New Zealand, Buckland Wright studied history at Oxford and then architecture in London. He
soon realised that he wanted to be an artist more than an architect and by 1921 he was
living in Belgium and was elected a member of the Gravure Originale Belge in 1925. He was
also a member of Xylographes Belges, SWE and LG. During the 1930s, Buckland Wright
lived and worked in Paris and frequently visited S W Hayter's Atelier 17. He had one-man
shows in London and throughout the continent, sometimes signing his work J B W. His work
is held by the Victoria & Albert Museum, British Museum and many galleries and museums
in Europe and America.
A master printmaker with an assured, swirling line, Buckland Wright passed on his
skills after World War II when he taught at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, from
1948, and the Slade School of Fine Art, from 1953. the year that his book Etching and
Engraving.. Techniques and the Modern Trend was published. He illustrated over
50 books. There was a retrospective at Blond Fine Art, in 1981. Hived in London.
|