Ethelbert White, 1891-1972

• Biography

  Attribute	Value
  Biography	Born in Isleworth, Middlesex Ethelbert White studied under Leonard Walker at the St John School of Art. White worked as a painter in oils and watercolours, wood engraver, poster designer and book illustrator of landscapes and agricultural subjects. He was a very consistent exhibitor with the London Group throughout the inter-war period and during the 1930s he regularly served on the Group's hanging committee. When reviewing a London Group exhibition in October 1920 "Athenaeum" suggested that: "Mr Ethelbert White is another fantasist whose work rather suggests a strong sympathy with that of Mr Paul Nash. He shows three or four paintings which are agreeable enough, but one would like to see some work of his which would not recall so quickly the personal quality of a fellow painter." He had his first one-man show at the Carfax Gallery. Although his subjects were essentially English, he did travel widely visiting Spain, Italy, France, Belgium and Ireland. In 1921, he was elected a member of the Society of Wood Engravers. As an illustrator he began working for the Beaumont Press and he produced wood engravings for Herbert Read's "Ecologues" (1919) and Richard Jeffries's "The Story of My Heart" (1923). In 1938 he was appointed art editor of the Penguin Modern Classics series. He was also one of the first artists to use lino-cuts. A memorial exhibition of his work was staged by the Fine Art Society, London, in 1979.
  Education	St John School of Art,
  Employment	Designed posters for the Underground Group, 1927
  Role	Artist,