E. M. O'R. Dickey (1 July 1894 – 12 August 1977) was a wood engraver who was active at the beginning of the twentieth century. He was a founder member of 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 ...

.Joanna Selborne, ‘The Society of Wood Engravers: the early years’ in ''Craft History 1'' (1988), published by Combined Arts.

Biography

Dickey (his full name was Edward Montgomery O'Rorke Dickey) was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

on 1 July 1894, the son of Edward O'Rorke Dickey. He later married Eunice Emmeline Howard; they had one son, Daniel. He was educated at Wellington College and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. He studied painting under

Harold Gilman Harold John Wilde Gilman (11 February 187612 February 1919) was a British painter of interiors, portraits and landscapes, and a founder-member of the Camden Town Group. Early life and studies Harold John Wilde Gilman was the second son and ...

at the Westminster School of Art. He was art master at Oundle School and then became professor of fine art and director of King Edward VII School of Art, Armstrong College,

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

from 1926 to 1931. From 1931 to 1957 he was staff inspector of art in the Technical Education Branch of the Ministry of Education. In 1934, along with a colleague W M Keesey, he compiled a report ''Industry and Art Education on the Continent'', a publication that, arguably, was a significant influence on both the uptake of modernist theory in English educational establishments and the development of industrial design as a practice in Britain. Dickey was also a significant voice in official deliberations that led to the formation of the

Council of Industrial Design The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom charity incorporated by Royal Charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instrumental in the prom ...

in 1944. At the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was seconded from the Ministry of Information and, from 1939 to 1942, was secretary of the War Artists' Advisory Committee. In his memoirs, Kenneth Clark, the originator of the committee, recalled 'discovering' in Dickey 'the perfect secretary to the committee', noting 'he had begun life as a serious painter ndknew all the ins and outs, and was devoted and resourceful beyond measure.' He was a full member of the committee from 1942 to 1945. During this period he established a close relationship with

Eric Ravilious Eric William Ravilious (22 July 1903 – 2 September 1942) was a British painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver. He grew up in Sussex, and is particularly known for his watercolours of the South Downs and other English landsca ...

. He was appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1952. Dickey became the first curator of The

Minories Minories ( ) is the name of a small former administrative unit, and also of a street in central London. Both the street and the former administrative area take their name from the Abbey of the Minoresses of St. Clare without Aldgate. Both are ...

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

, a post he held for five years from 1957 to 1962.

His wood engravings and oil paintings

Dickey was a founder member of the Society of Wood Engravers in 1920, and exhibited with them from 1920 to 1924. He was at his most active in the early 1920s and virtually all his engravings date from this period. In 1922 he contributed a wood engraving to ''Contemporary English Woodcuts'', an anthology of wood engravings produced by Thomas Balston, a director at Duckworth and an enthusiast for the new style of wood engravings. Campbell Dodgson, Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, wrote about him in his introduction to the book: '' Mr. Hagreen and Mr. Dickey are among the engravers who rely very much upon the effective use of white lines and spaces''. This was a limited edition of 550 copies, as was the only book that he illustrated with wood engravings, ''Workers'' by the Irish writer Richard Rowley, published by Balston at Duckworth in 1923. Dickey devoted more time to working in oils. He was one of the most experimental painters in Ireland technically and stylistically. He painted extensively on the continent, and showed 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 pur ...

and the New English Art Club. He was elected to the London Group in 1920. He had several one-man exhibitions, at the Leicester Galleries in 1923, at the

Manchester City Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupies three c ...

in 1924, and the Beaux Arts Gallery in 1935. There are a number of examples of his oil paintings in public collections.Examples of Dickey's oil paintings
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An overview of Dickey's work

Dickey's lasting legacy, rather than his wood engravings and oils, is his distinguished contribution to arts administration and art education.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickey, E. M. OR. Dickey 1894 births 1977 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Artists from Belfast British illustrators British wood engravers Irish wood engravers 20th-century engravers