Clare Leighton

Clara Ellaline Hope Leighton (sometimes Clare Veronica Hope Leighton) (12 April 1898 - 4 November 1989) was an English/American artist, writer and illustrator, best known for her wood engravings.

Clare Leighton was born in London on 12 April 1898, the daughter of Robert Leighton (1858-1934) and Marie Connor Leighton (1865-1941), both authors. Clare's early life was lived in the shadow of her older brother, Roland - her mother's favorite as demonstrated by her family nickname of "the bystander". Her early efforts at painting were however encouraged by her parents and her uncle Jack Leighton, an artist and illustrator. In 1915, she began formal studies at the Brighton College of Art and later trained at the Slade School of Fine Art (1921–23), and the Central School of Arts and Crafts, where she studied wood engraving under Noel Rooke.

After completing her studies, Leighton took time to travel through Europe; among her stops were Italy, France, and the Balkans. Through her sketching of the landscapes and lower class workers, she developed her affinity for the portrayal of rural life.

During the late 1920s and 1930s, Leighton visited the United States on a number of lecture tours and she emigrated to the US in 1939. She lived in Baltimore for a while and became friends with H. L. Mencken. She became a naturalized citizen in 1945. From 1943 to 1945 she was a member of the Department of Art, Aesthetics, and Music at Duke University. In 1945 she was also elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member and became a full Academician in 1949.

Over the course of a long and prolific career, she wrote and illustrated numerous books praising the virtues of the countryside and the people who worked the land. During the 1920s and 1930s, as the world around her became increasingly technological, industrial, and urban, Leighton portrayed rural working men and women. In the 1950s she created designs for Steuben Glass, Wedgwood plates, several stained glass windows for churches in New England and for the transept windows of Worcester Cathedral, England.

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