I've been reading Clare Leighton's Country Matters, illustrated - of course - by the author. It's as handsome an edition as her Four Hedges (snippets here and here), and imbued with the same connection to the land, the seasons, the timeless links between past and present, even in an era of fast change and 'progress' (the 1930s). Her wood engravings have great strength, movement, charm, and are the perfect counterpoint to the keen observation of her text.
"At first sight the Ploughing Match resembles an ocean upon which ships cross and recross. The teams as they keep to their separate furrows can hold no intercourse. So at sea do ships pass, but never meet. But no, it is not a sea. Rather is it an enormous loom. The strips of pale stubble are the warp stretched tight across it. The furrows are the woof. Their lines of chocolate-coloured silk cross the stubble at right angles. The teams are the shuttles, ten in number. Slowly they move over the field, drawing the deep-brown silk behind them. But it is not only on the earth that this design is woven. Above, in the blue sky, it is repeated. Long white clouds pass across the firmament, parallel with the stubble, and at right angles to horse and plough. So, in two elements weaving proceeds."
Her portraits are of primrose-picking, tree-felling, the village flower show, the cricket match, the fair ... each a glimpse of rural culture, character, and custom. But this is no eulogy to a disappearing age, rather - in her words - "a record of an enduring world [...] Romance need not live only under thatched eaves, drawing its water from moss-covered wells. It can survive the invasion of the tractor and the radio. It feeds upon an attitude of mind [...]"
It looks delightful. I love her art.
Posted by: Joan Kyler | 26 January 2018 at 12:25 PM
Yes, her work suggests a particular connection between herself and her subjects.
Posted by: Cornflower | 26 January 2018 at 01:13 PM
[Romance] ... It can survive the invasion of the tractor and the radio. It feeds upon an attitude of mind Indeed it can (and should) but I would also argue strongly that it can also be seen in the "invasion" of the tractor and the radio (and the MRI scanner and the Large Hadron Collider etc.) too! :-)
Posted by: Dark Puss | 26 January 2018 at 04:15 PM
That is true!
Posted by: Cornflower | 26 January 2018 at 04:23 PM
Oh dear, my wish list gets longer...
Posted by: Toffeeapple | 26 January 2018 at 07:54 PM
So does mine: when I went over to Little Toller to get the links for Clare Leighton's books I saw that they will shortly be publishing Dorothy Hartley's 1939 'Made in England' (about the people and crafts of the cottage industries in England), so that's made my list a little longer.
Posted by: Cornflower | 26 January 2018 at 09:10 PM
Some years ago there was an exhibition at the Pallant Gallery in Chichester of Claire Leighton woodcuts. The detail was incredible and made even more visible with the aid of a magnifying glass thoughtfully put out for visitors.
Posted by: Fran | 30 January 2018 at 07:46 AM
That must have been worth seeing.
Posted by: Cornflower | 30 January 2018 at 09:54 AM