Celebrating the art of wood engraving over the last 100 years, this exhibition curated by Long & Ryle artist Anne Desmet RA, will display the most outstanding wood engravings in the Ashmolean, complemented by loans from private collections. Marking the centenary of the Society of Wood Engravers, the exhibition charts the history and global spread of this widely loved art form.
The Society of Wood Engravers (SWE) was founded in London in 1920 by leading artist-engravers of the day including Lucien Pissarro. Anne Desmet was appointed by the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, to curate this major survey exhibition to mark the centenary. Curated largely from the Museum’s extensive holdings of wood engraved prints, with significant additional loans from private collections, the exhibition was due to open on 27 March 2020 but was postponed due to the coronavirus. It will now open when the Ashmolean reopens – hopefully in June – and will remain on view until 22 November 2020 before touring to the St Barbe Museum, Lymington, from January – March 2021 and other venues.