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7 The distinctive shapes and shades of her linocuts are emblematic of the golden age of graphic design of the twenties and thirties, and their wry humour holds an extraordinary appeal. Frances Spalding described Rush Hour (1930) as epitomising 'the anonymity of the London Underground and the continuous movement up and down of the escalators'; whilst the figures in Football (1937) and Skaters (1953) have become part of the national consciousness through their translation into iconic transport posters. 1 Born in the small market town of Bury St Edmunds in rural Suffolk, Sybil Andrews (1898-1992) blazed a trail through the twentieth century, and across the world, living out the second half of her life in the remote logging settlement of Campbell River, British Columbia. After a childhood spent drawing and painting, she taught herself the rudiments of her craft via a correspondence course whilst working as a welder during the First World War. In 1922 she relocated to London, where she studied under some the most dynamic teachers in the metropolis before forming the nucleus of one of the most cohesive and brilliant British art movements of the twentieth century. In total, she produced eighty-seven linocuts over sixty- two years, and was also a skilled etcher, carver, and needle worker. Andrews' personal dynamism, eye for design, and wit, are evident throughout her oeuvre, from the action figures toiling in balletic union in The Winch (1930) and Sledgehammers (1933), and the rhythmically vaulting horses of In Full Cry and Water Jump (both 1931); to the powerful emotional impact made in Mother and Son (1932), and the wry observational humour of works like Flower Girls (1934). Her unique voice, chronicled in her teaching manual Artist's Kitchen, provides an indispensible record of her character, demonstrating her mental acuity, spiritual engagement, and deep-rooted belief in the necessity of hard work. Provocative, passionate, and to the point, this work, in its raw and sometimes abrupt honesty, continues to inspire the artists of Desolation Sound, British Columbia, where some of Andrews' pupils continue to live and work. Art, Andrews insisted, is 'Creative', never imitative or superficial. It requires focus, hard work and conscious engagement: To be an Artist, the genuine article, that one must know, and to know he must learn – to draw, to paint, to make a good composition and understand colour and tone. To recognize Form, he must learn to draw and draw form, not appearances, and understand pattern and design and what they will do for his work. 2 One of the most exciting and innovative printmakers of the twentieth century, her iconic linocuts are instantly recognisable. SYBIL ANDREWS AND THE GROSVENOR SCHOOL 1. Frances Spalding, Virginia Woolf: Art, Life and Vision (London: National Portrait Gallery, 2014), p.120. 2. Sybil Andrews, Artist's Kitchen, (London: RK Hudson, 1985), pp. 85. by Hana Leaper