This is an original antique book illustration taken from The Farmers Year published by Collins in 1933. This seminal work included 12 large wood engravings illustrating various aspects of farming life and designed specifically to show off the technical and artistic virtuosity of the engraver with a series of large and visually stunning images.  Clare Leighton was one of a number of woodblock artists in this period when the genre was at its most popular for illustration of printed matter.

Only original copies of the published works are used and only books that have become detached and beyond repair are used (later reprints are on poorer quality paper and the woodblock is less distinct with age and usage). These prints are full page without marks or distracting print on the rear.  The print is fixed to conservation standard backing paper and mounted in a complementary super thick pale ivory acid free conservation mount board with an onyx black slip ready for framing. The mount boards have a generous margin to show the prints in the best possible way.

Mount size: to fit frame 43.5 x 39.3 cms

Actual illustration size: 25.5 x 20.5 cms

I have other prints from this and other artists that can be hung and bought together - see other listings. If you have specific mount or frame requests please ask. 

Condition: Very good clean and crisp condition with no text or distracting marks. The paper is good quality heavy paper. This is an original 1930s print so paper has slightly creamy/yellow appearance but this lends the overall image a nice vintage aspect. Note that the oak frame is a solid oak professionally made moulding finished with natural wood wax complete with all fittings are ready to be hung. There is a higher P & P charge of £10.00 for this given weight and protective packaging.


About Clare Leighton (1898-1989)

An English/American artist, writer and illustrator, best known for her wood engravings, trained at the Slade School of Fine Art and the Central School of Arts and Crafts, where she studied wood engraving under Noel Rooke. She emigrated to America in 1939.

Over the course of a long and prolific career, she wrote and illustrated numerous books praising the virtues of the countryside and the people who worked the land.