The Society of Wood Engravers’ 87th Annual Exhibition presents over 125 prints by both UK and international artists selected from an open submission. Founded in 1920 by a group of distinguished artists including Lucien Pissarro and Gwen Raverat, the Society continues to encourage the practice of this skilled artform and holds this annual exhibition to showcase the vision and versatility of contemporary wood engravers.

Some engravers produce work very much in the tradition of Thomas Bewick (1753 – 1828) who discovered that by engraving on the end grain of boxwood it was possible to produce much more detailed work than with the technique of woodcut, for which different tools are used as cutting is along the grain of the wood. Other engravers work on a larger scale and take inspiration from the great practitioners of the ‘golden age’ of the interwar years such Gertrude Hermes, Eric Ravilious, David Jones and Clare Leighton.

Wood engraving is generally a black-and-white technique with the image printed from a single woodblock, but some engravers explore colour either by printing from multiple blocks or by using the reduction technique, expertly demonstrated by Ben Goodman in his work Hera, which was awarded the Rachel Reckitt Prize.

Free