Barbara Greg (30 April 1900 – 1983) was a British artist who illustrated a number of books.

Biography

Greg was born in

Styal Styal (, like ''style'') is a village and civil parish on the River Bollin near Wilmslow, Cheshire, England. History Styal village grew during the early years of the Industrial Revolution when industrialist Samuel Greg built a cotton mill and ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

and was educated at

Bedales School Bedales School is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventio ...

. She studied at the

Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in London between 1919 and 1923 where she was taught by her future husband, the artist Norman Janes, whom she married in 1925. During this time she also took

wood engraving Wood engraving is a printmaking technique, in which an artist works an image or ''matrix'' of images into a block of wood. Functionally a variety of woodcut, it uses relief printing, where the artist applies ink to the face of the block and pr ...

classes at the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cra ...

and later, in 1926 and 1927, studied at the

Westminster School of Art The Westminster School of Art was an art school in Westminster, London. History The Westminster School of Art was located at 18 Tufton Street, Deans Yard, Westminster, and was part of the old Royal Architectural Museum. H. M. Bateman describe ...

. Greg's interest in wood engraving as a technique may have resulted from seeing her grandfathers' collection of works by

Thomas Bewick Thomas Bewick (c. 11 August 17538 November 1828) was an English wood-engraver and natural history author. Early in his career he took on all kinds of work such as engraving cutlery, making the wood blocks for advertisements, and illustrating ch ...

. She first exhibited a wood engraving in 1924 at the

Society of Wood Engravers The Society of Wood Engravers (SWE) is a UK-based artists’ exhibiting society, formed in 1920, one of its founder-members being Eric Gill. It was originally restricted to artist-engravers printing with oil-based inks in a press, distinct from ...

and continued to do so on a regular basis until 1976. Greg produced wood cut, or sometimes lino cut, designs for book dust jackets and endpapers, for calendars and also decorated piano rolls, often with musical subjects. She illustrated several books mostly with natural history or countryside themes and contributed illustrations to the magazine '' Country Life''. Greg exhibited on a regular basis at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

, with the

New English Art Club The New English Art Club (NEAC) was founded in London in 1885 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. It continues to hold an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries in London, exhibiting works by both members and ...

, the

Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE), known until 1991 as the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, is a leading art institution based in London, England. The Royal Society of Painter-Etchers, as it was originally styled, was ...

, the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...

and the

Royal Watercolour Society The Royal Watercolour Society is a British institution of painters working in watercolours. The Society is a centre of excellence for water-based media on paper, which allows for a diverse and interesting range of approaches to the medium of wat ...

. She was elected a member of the

Manchester Academy of Fine Arts The Manchester Academy of Fine Arts (''MAFA'') was founded in 1859 by artists eager to promote art and education. It was originally based in the building on Mosley Street which is now Manchester Art Gallery where annual exhibitions and classes ...

in 1925 and became an associate member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers in 1940 and a full member in 1946. In 1952 she became a full member of the Society of Wood Engravers. Greg lived in London and died in hospital at Enfield in north London in 1983.

Books illustrated

Books illustrated by Greg;- * ''A Fisherman's Log'' by GL Ashley Dodd, (Constable, 1929) * ''Enigmas of Natural History'' by EL Grant Watson, (Cresset Press) * ''More Enigmas of Natural History'' by EL Grant Watson, (Cresset Press, 1937) * ''The Poachers Handbook'' by I Niall, (Heinemann, 1951) * ''Fresh Woods'' by I Niall, (Heinemann, 1951) * ''Pastures New'' by I Niall, (Heinemann, 1952) * ''Letter to a Musical Boy'' by M. Bruxner (OUP, 1958)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greg, Barbara 1900 births 1983 deaths 20th-century British printmakers 20th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Alumni of the Westminster School of Art British women illustrators English illustrators English women painters English wood engravers People educated at Bedales School People from Cheshire People from the Borough of Cheshire East Women engravers 20th-century engravers