Robert Sargent Austin RA PPRWS PPRE (23 June 1895 – 18 September 1973) was a noted artist, illustrator, engraver and currency designer and widely considered to be one of Britain's leading mid-twentieth century printmakers.

Biography

Austin studied at Leicester Municipal School of Art from 1909 to 1913 then at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...

in London where his studies were interrupted by the First World War. He returned to the College in 1919 when he studied etching under Sir

Frank Short Sir Francis Job "Frank" Short PPRE (19 June 1857 – 22 April 1945) was a British printmaker and teacher of printmaking. He revived the practices of mezzotint and pure aquatint, while expanding the expressive power of line in drypoint, etc ...

and was awarded a scholarship in engraving to study in Italy. During the last 10 years of the

etching revival The etching revival was the re-emergence and invigoration of etching as an original form of printmaking during the period approximately from 1850 to 1930. The main centres were France, Britain and the United States, but other countries, such as ...

between 1920 and 1930 he produced etchings from copper plates worked in very fine detail in an almost Pre-Raphaelite style. During the Second World War Austin worked as a war artist recording the efforts of women in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

and in the nursing services for the

War Artists' Advisory Committee The War Artists Advisory Committee (WAAC), was a British government agency established within the Ministry of Information at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and headed by Sir Kenneth Clark. Its aim was to compile a comprehensive artist ...

. During that period he produced a portrait of Lord Nelson as one of a series commissioned by London Transport called 'Our Heritage' and which also included portraits of William Pitt, Francis Drake, Earl Haig and Winston Churchill. He then returned to teaching at the Royal College of Art as Professor of

Engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

from 1946. Austin acted as an advisor on the design of banknotes to the Bank of England between 1956 and 1961 and designed the ten shillings and one pound notes issued in the early 1960s. Austin was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers (R.E.) in 1927 and succeeded Malcolm Osborne to become the Society's President from 1962 to 1970. He was elected a full member of 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 wa ...

(R.W.S.) in 1934 and served as President from 1957 to 1973. He was elected an

Associate of 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 ...

in 1939 and to the full membership (R.A.) in 1949 as an engraver.Feely, Morgan & Savage, Nick (2009). ''Robert Austin R.A. Prints and Drawings. Guide to an exhibition 29 May - 25 October 2009''. London: Royal Academy. Austin was married to the writer Ada May Harrison for whom he illustrated a number of books. They had a son, Robert, and two daughters, Rachel and Clare. In 1936 he purchased an old Methodist chapel in Burnham Overy Staithe in North Norfolk and converted it into a studio where he could look out onto the beautiful marshes and landscape and paint. He used to paint in the early hours of the morning because he liked the light best at that time.

References

External links

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Prints by Austin in the British Museum collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Robert 1895 births 1973 deaths 20th-century English painters 20th-century British printmakers Academics of the Royal College of Art Alumni of the Royal College of Art British currency designers English etchers English illustrators English male painters English printmakers People from Leicester Royal Academicians 20th-century English male artists