Gill, Eric, 1882-1940

Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, ARA RDI (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes Gill as "the greatest artist-craftsman of the twentieth century: a letter-cutter and type designer of genius", he is also a figure of considerable controversy following revelations of his sexual abuse of two of his daughters.

Gill was born in Brighton and grew up in Chichester...

<p>Eric Gill, in full Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (born February 22, 1882, Brighton, Sussex, England—died November 17, 1940, Uxbridge, Middlesex), British sculptor, engraver, typographic designer, and writer, especially known for his elegantly styled lettering and typefaces and the precise linear simplicity of his bas-reliefs.</p>
<p>Gill spent two years in an art school in Chichester and in 1899 was articled to a London architect; in 1902 he turned to letter carving after studying in his spare time at the new Central School of Arts and Crafts with Edward Johnston, a pioneer in the revival of lettering. From then until 1910, he worked as a carver of tombstones, although by 1909 he had turned to figure sculpture. “Mother and Child” (1912) brought him public notice. After 1912 his success as a sculptor was established, and he inspired an English revival of direct carving in stone rather than using preparatory clay models. He carved the stations of the cross for Westminster Cathedral (1914–18), London...</p>

Gill, (Arthur) Eric Rowton (1882–1940), artist, craftsman, and social critic, was born at 32 Hamilton Road, Brighton, Sussex, on 22 February 1882, the eldest son and second of the thirteen children of the Revd Arthur Tidman Gill (1848–1933), minister of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, a Calvinist Methodist church, and his wife, (Cicely) Rose King (d. 1929), formerly a professional singer of light opera under the name Rose le Roi...