Clare Leighton (1898-1989)

Clare Hope Leighton (1898 - 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[1], the daughter ofRobert Leighton (1858-1934) and Marie Connor Leighton (1865-1941),both authors. Her early efforts at painting were 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.During the late 1920s and 1930s, Leighton visited the United States ona number of lecture tours. In 1939, at the conclusion of a lengthy relationship with the radical journalist Henry Brailsford, she emigrated to the US and became a naturalised citizen in 1945.Over the course of a long and prolific career, she wrote and illustrated numer