Eric Slater (British, 1896-1963) An Autumn Scene
signed and titled in pencil woodcut in colours on wove framed ARR Dimensions: plate 9.2 x 12.7cmNotes: Eric Slater was born in 1896 in Hampstead, London, and moved to Sussex after the death of his father. He studied at The Hastings School of Art, and is believed to have been taught the woodcut technique by a neighbour, Arthur Rigden Read. Rigden Read had travelled to Japan in the 1920s and studied the woodcut techniques employed in ukiyo-e, bringing back these complex relief-printing skills. Eric Slater began making prints in 1926 and produced 36 works over around 15 years, until the outbreak of the Second World War. Having settled in Seaford, Slater mainly depicted the area and its surroundings, forever fascinated by the South Downs and Sussex coastline. Though he worked in the south of England, he was patronised by Campbell Dodgson, Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, and went on to receive international recognition. Slater is best known for his large skies, simplified line and fine study of light. He used a traditionally Japanese medium to depict bucolic English subjects. An Autumn Scene captures the rolling clouds and rich amber of the autumnal foliage, with the reflection of sky, trees and farmhouse roofs in a small pond, rendered in subtle and restrained line. Slater stopped produced prints in the 1940s when materials became expensive, tastes changed and artists’ lives were uprooted. Slater died in 1963 and, leaving no close relatives, his work gradually slipped into obscurity. With works held by the British Museum and V&A, Slater has experienced a revival amongst collectors enamoured by his atmospheric woodcuts capturing English countryside life.
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signed and titled in pencil woodcut in colours on wove framed ARR Dimensions: plate 9.2 x 12.7cmNotes: Eric Slater was born in 1896 in Hampstead, London, and moved to Sussex after the death of his father. He studied at The Hastings School of Art, and is believed to have been taught the woodcut technique by a neighbour, Arthur Rigden Read. Rigden Read had travelled to Japan in the 1920s and studied the woodcut techniques employed in ukiyo-e, bringing back these complex relief-printing skills. Eric Slater began making prints in 1926 and produced 36 works over around 15 years, until the outbreak of the Second World War. Having settled in Seaford, Slater mainly depicted the area and its surroundings, forever fascinated by the South Downs and Sussex coastline. Though he worked in the south of England, he was patronised by Campbell Dodgson, Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, and went on to receive international recognition. Slater is best known for his large skies, simplified line and fine study of light. He used a traditionally Japanese medium to depict bucolic English subjects. An Autumn Scene captures the rolling clouds and rich amber of the autumnal foliage, with the reflection of sky, trees and farmhouse roofs in a small pond, rendered in subtle and restrained line. Slater stopped produced prints in the 1940s when materials became expensive, tastes changed and artists’ lives were uprooted. Slater died in 1963 and, leaving no close relatives, his work gradually slipped into obscurity. With works held by the British Museum and V&A, Slater has experienced a revival amongst collectors enamoured by his atmospheric woodcuts capturing English countryside life.
Please make sure condition report requests are submitted at least 24hrs before the sale. They are replied to on a first come first served basis. Please login or create an account to view/request condition reports
