Walter Claude Flight (born London 16 February 1881 - died Donhead St Andrew 10 October 1955) also known as Claude Flight or W. Claude Flight was a British artist who pioneered and popularised the linoleum cut technique. He also painted, illustrated and made wood cuts. He was the son of Walter Flight.
Flight was a fervent promoter of the linoleum cut technique from the time he first used it in 1919. He felt by promoting the use of the cheap and easily obtained new material he was making it possible for the masses to be exposed to art. He saw in it the potentiality of a truly democratic art form.
Flight had tried a number of different careers before settling on art. He had kept bees, farmed and also had tried engineering before studying art at
Heatherley School of Fine Art
The Heatherley School of Fine Art is an independent art school in London.
The school was named after Thomas Heatherley who took over as the school's principal from James Mathews Leigh (when it was named "Leigh's"). Founded in 1845, the school ...
from 1913–1914 and from 1918.
Flight exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1921, in Paris in 1922 and in London at the R.B.A. from 1923. He also exhibited regularly at the Redfern Gallery and abroad.
Flight was a member of the
Seven and Five Society
The Seven and Five Society was an art group of seven painters and five sculptors created in 1919 and based in London.
The group was originally intended to encompass traditional, conservative artistic sensibilities. The first exhibition catalogue s ...
in 1923 whose members included
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...
,
Ben Nicholson
Benjamin Lauder Nicholson, Order of Merit, OM (10 April 1894 – 6 February 1982) was an English painter of abstract art, abstract compositions (sometimes in low relief), landscape and still-life.
Background and training
Nicholson was ...
and
Barbara Hepworth
Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...
. He was a member of the Grubb Group in 1928. He collaborated with
Edith Lawrence with whom he had an interior design business, taught at the
Grosvenor School of Modern Art
The Grosvenor School of Modern Art was a private British art school
An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and ...
from 1926 and wrote and organized exhibitions on linocuts. His pupils included various now-famous print artists such as
Lill Tschudi,
Cyril Power
Cyril Edward Power (17 December 1872 – 25 May 1951) was an English artist best known for his linocut prints, long-standing artistic partnership with artist Sybil Andrews and for co-founding the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in London in 1925. ...
,
Eileen Mayo
Dame Eileen Rosemary Mayo (11 September 1906 – 4 January 1994) was an English artist and designer who worked in England, Australia and New Zealand in almost every available medium – drawings, woodcuts, lithographs on stone and tempera, tapes ...
and
Sybil Andrews.
Influenced by Cubism, Futurism and Vorticism, his work expressed dynamic rhythm through bold, simple forms. His linocut prints show his interest in depicting speed and movement.
He produced over 64 different prints and published 9 books on linocutting.
List of works
''Seaside Cove''watercolour on paper
*''On a Backwater'' watercolour, black and coloured crayon
''Beach Scene''watercolour on paper
''Park'' 1922 watercolour and chalk on paper
*''Policeman holding up Traffic'' linocut
''Speed''c. 1922 Edition: 50
''The Paris Omnibus''1923 Edition: 50
''Swing Boats''c. 1924 Edition: 50
1924 Edition: 50
c. 1925 Edition: 50
''Summer''c. 1926 Edition: 50
''Summer, Four Seasons''c. 1926
*''Descent from the Bus'' 1927 Edition:
''Brooklands''1929 Edition: 50
''Persuasion''c. 1930 Edition: 50
*''Love on Ice'' 1930 Edition: 50
c. 1931 Edition:50
''The Conjurer''c. 1933 Edition: 50
c. 1934 Edition: 50
This print resulted from a Swiss summer holiday made by Flight and Edith Lawrence in 1933. They stayed as guests of
Lill Tschudi at her family home in Schwanden.
*Boo
''Animal Vegetable or Mineral''Published by Oxford University Press, London
*Boo
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flight, Claude
1881 births
1955 deaths
Artists from London