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Sybil Andrews and the Grosvenor School Linocuts

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8 The clangour of urban toil and the motion of modern transport proved fitting subjects for Andrews' exploration of form, pattern, and design, and feature prominently in Andrews' graphical lexicon. Her uniquely modernist attachment to pastoral landscapes and expressions of her devout Christian faith are less frequently acknowledged, but equally galvanising. Despite leaving Bury St Edmunds in 1922 to study in London, and returning to the local area for only brief periods thereafter, late in her life, Andrews claimed: 'I may be living in Canada at the moment but Suffolk remains… the core of what I am.' 3 She cited her early experiences in the East Anglian region as the inspiration for all of her prints depicting' what she termed 'a rural way of life', and singled out Market Day (1936) as distilling the essence of 'everyday life in an agricultural town in that part of the world.' 4 Moyse's Hall Museum, where Andrews' youngest sibling, Hal, worked as Keeper between 1933-9, overlooks the main forum of the historic Bury St Edmunds weekly market. It is likely that Andrews' aerial view of this scene was observed from his office, consolidating her sense of belonging in the town. Andrews captured the dynamics of this commonplace, yet profoundly important local scene, combining modern techniques and historic subject matter to depict crowds milling as stall-holders display their wares and practice their crafts. Characteristically of Andrews' lino print work, the scene is imbued with kinetic movement and cleverly interlocking forms and colours, as she celebrates 'both the sense of occasion of market day with "the farm wives in their best clothes" coming into "town" on their day off and the continuities of rural life. 5 An interrelated series of works featuring agricultural labour also explicitly commemorate regional traditions, often incorporating the shire horses she observed working in the fields. These works, which include The Timber Jim (1932), Fall of the Leaf (1934), Tillers of the Soil (1934), Michaelmas (1935), Haysel (1936), Mowers (1937), Gypsies (1939), Ploughing Pasture (1955), Mangolds (1956), Day's End (1961), Plough (1961), and Wings (1979), extends throughout Andrews' career, including her time in Canada, continuing to demonstrate her allegiance to the soil of home. Claude Flight and the formation of the linocut movement Andrews learned the linocutting technique that would become her primary medium whilst working as the secretary at the newly established Grosvenor School of Modern Art, founded in 1925 by Scottish wood-engraver, Iain Mcnab (1890-1967). Claude Flight (1881-1955) began to teach linocutting classes at the Grosvenor School in 1926, and although this lasted for only four years, the legacy of this course has made a profound impact on the history of twentieth century British print making. 3. Sybil Andrews to Christopher Reeve, unpublished and undated letter, Bury St Edmunds Archives. 4. Sybil Andrews, 3 rd April 1991, quoted in Christopher Reeve, Something to Splash About, (Norfolk: Whitley Press Ltd., 1991), Introduction. 5. Hana Leaper, Sybil Andrews Linocuts: A Complete Catalogue (UK: Lund Humphries, 2015), p.19. Market Day, 1936 Mowers, 1937

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