About this ebook
Completely devoid of social or professional ambition and detesting material success, this artist of the first order preferred to live the simple life of a stone cutter and craftsman.
Richly illustrated with 36 gravure reproductions of the author’s most outstanding work.
About the author
Arthur Eric Rowton Gill ARA (22 February 1882 - 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, typeface designer, and printmaker, who was associated with the Arts and Crafts movement. Born in 1882 in Hamilton Road, Brighton, he grew up in the Brighton suburb of Preston Park. One of twelve children, he was the elder brother of MacDonald “Max” Gill (1884-1947), the graphic artist. In 1897 the family moved to Chichester. He studied at Chichester Technical and Art School, and in 1900 moved to London to train as an architect with the practice of W.D. Caroe, specialists in ecclesiastical architecture. Frustrated with his training, he took evening classes in stonemasonry at the Westminster Technical Institute and in calligraphy at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, where Edward Johnston, creator of the London Underground typeface, became a strong influence. In 1903 he gave up his architectural training to become a calligrapher, letter-cutter and monumental mason. Working from Ditchling in Sussex, where he lived with his wife, in 1910 Gill began direct carving of stone figures. After WWI, together with Hilary Pepler and Desmond Chute, Gill founded The Guild of St. Joseph and St. Dominic at Ditchling. Among Gill’s many enduring artistic achievements are the typefaces Gill Sans, Perpetua, and Joanna; the group of sculptures Prospero and Ariel for BBC Broadcasting House; numerous World War I memorials; and a vast array of illustrations for the private Golden Cockerel Press. In the 1930s, Gill was named Royal Designer for Industry, the highest British award for designers, by the Royal Society of Arts. He also became a founder-member of the newly established Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry. Gill published numerous essays on the relationship between art and religion. He died in Middlesex in 1940 at the age of 58.
