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Arthur Eric Rowton Gill (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and
printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique ...
. Although the ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...
'' 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 the revelations of his
sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...
of two of his daughters and of his pet dog. Gill was born in
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
and grew up in
Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...
, where he attended the local college before moving to London. There he became an apprentice with a firm of ecclesiastical architects and took evening classes in stone masonry and calligraphy. Gill abandoned his architectural training and set up a business cutting memorial inscriptions for buildings and headstones. He also began designing chapter headings and title pages for books. As a young man, Gill was a member of the
Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...
, but later resigned. Initially identifying with the
Arts and Crafts Movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...
, by 1907 he was lecturing and campaigning against the movement's perceived failings. He became a Roman Catholic in 1913 and remained so for the rest of his life. Gill established a succession of craft communities, each with a chapel at its centre and with an emphasis on manual labour as opposed to more modern industrial methods. The first of these communities was at Ditchling in Sussex, where Gill established The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic for Catholic craftsmen. Many members of the Guild, including Gill, were also members of the
Third Order of Saint Dominic The Third Order of Saint Dominic (; abbreviated TOP), also referred to as the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic or Lay Dominicans since 1972, is a Roman Catholic, Catholic third order which is part of the Dominican Order. As members of the Order ...
, a lay division of the
Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...
. At Ditchling, Gill and his assistants created several war memorials including those at
Chirk Chirk () is a town and Community (Wales), community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, south of Wrexham, between it and Oswestry. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 4,468. Historically in the historic counties of Wales, traditional coun ...
in north Wales and at
Trumpington Trumpington is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, mostly located in Cambridge, with a small southern area of the village extending into the South Cambridgeshire district. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the village had ...
near Cambridge, along with numerous works on religious subjects. In 1924, the Gill family left Ditchling and moved to an isolated, disused monastery at
Capel-y-ffin is a hamlet near the English-Welsh border, a couple of miles north of Llanthony in Powys, Wales. It lies within the Black Mountains and within the Brecon Beacons National Park. The nearest town is Hay-on-Wye, some to the northwest. History ...
in the Black Mountains of Wales. The isolation of Capel-y-ffin suited Gill's wish to distance himself from what he regarded as an increasingly secular and industrialised society, and his time there proved to be among the most productive of his artistic career. At Capel, Gill made the sculptures ''The Sleeping Christ'' (1925), ''Deposition'' (1925), and ''Mankind'' (1927). He created engravings for a series of books published by the Golden Cockerel Press considered among the finest of their kind, and it was at Capel that he designed the typefaces Perpetua,
Gill Sans Gill Sans is a Sans-serif#Humanist, humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Eric Gill and released by the British branch of Monotype Imaging, Monotype in 1928. It is based on Edward Johnston's 1916 "Johnston (typeface), Underground Alphabet", t ...
, and Solus. After four years at Capel, Gill and his family moved into a quadrangle of properties at Speen in Buckinghamshire. From there, in the last decade of his life, Gill became an architectural sculptor of some fame, creating large, high-profile works for central London buildings, including both the headquarters of the BBC and the forerunner of London Underground. His mammoth frieze ''The Creation of Man'' was the British Government's gift to the new
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
building in
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
. Despite failing health Gill was active as a sculptor until the last weeks of his life, leaving several works to be completed by his assistants after his death. Gill was a prolific writer on religious and social matters, with some 300 printed works including books and pamphlets to his name. He frequently courted controversy with his opposition to industrialisation, modern commerce, and the use of machinery in both the home and the workplace. In the years preceding World War II, he embraced pacifism and left-wing causes.


Biography


Early life

Eric Gill was born in 1882 in Hamilton Road,
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
, the second of the 13 children of the Reverend Arthur Tidman Gill and (Cicely) Rose King (died 1929), formerly a professional singer of light opera under the name Rose le Roi. Arthur Tidman Gill had left the
Congregational Church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...
in 1878 over doctrinal disagreements and became a minister of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, a grouping of Calvinist Methodists. Arthur was born in the South Seas, where his father, George Gill, was a Congregational minister and missionary. Eric Gill was the elder brother of the graphic artist MacDonald "Max" Gill (1884–1947). Two of his other brothers, Romney and Cecil, became Anglican missionaries while their sister, Madeline, became a nun and also undertook missionary work. The film historian David Gill was a nephew. In 1897, the family moved to
Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...
, when Arthur Tidman Gill left the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, became a mature student at
Chichester Theological College Chichester Theological College (1838–1994) was an Anglican theological college for the Diocese of Chichester in West Sussex, Sussex, England. Its churchmanship was high church and Anglo-Catholic. History Chichester Theological College was ...
and joined the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
. Eric Gill studied at Chichester Technical and Art School, where he won a Queen's Prize for perspective drawing and developed a passion for lettering. Later in his life, Gill cited the Norman and medieval carved stone panels in
Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of th ...
as a major influence on his sculpture. In 1900, Gill became disillusioned with Chichester and moved to London to train as an architect with the practice of W. D. Caröe, specialists in ecclesiastical architecture with a large office close to
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
.


London 1900–1907

Frustrated with his architectural training, Gill took evening classes in
stonemasonry Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using rock (geology), stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with Mortar (masonry), mortar ...
at the Westminster Technical Institute and, from 1901, in
calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...
at the
Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a art school, school of fine arts, fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School ...
while continuing to work at Caröe's. The calligraphy course was run by
Edward Johnston Edward Johnston, CBE (San José de Mayo, Uruguay 11 February 1872 – 26 November 1944) was a British craftsman who is regarded, with Rudolf Koch, as the father of modern calligraphy, in the particular form of the broad-edged pen as a ...
, creator of the London Underground typeface, who became a strong and lasting influence on Gill. For a year, until 1903, Gill and Johnston shared lodgings at
Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...
in central London. During 1903, Gill gave up training in architecture to become a calligrapher, letter-cutter and monumental mason. After making a copy of a small stone tablet from Westminster Abbey, Gill's first public inscription was for a stone memorial tablet, to a Percy Joseph Hiscock, in Chichester Cathedral. Through a contact at the Central School, Gill was employed to cut the inscription for a tombstone at
Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...
in Surrey. Other work quickly followed, including an inscription for Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, plus commissions from architects and private individuals, including Count Kessler. Kessler, on Johnston's recommendation, employed Gill to design chapter headings and title pages for the Insel Verlag publishing house. W.H. Smith & Son employed Gill to paint the lettering on the fascias of several of their bookshops including, in 1903, their Paris store. For a time, Gill combined this work with his job at Caröe's but eventually the scale and frequency of these commissions required him to leave the company. After Gill died, his brother, Evan, compiled an inventory of 762 inscriptions known to have been carved by him. In 1904 Gill married Ethel Hester Moore (1878–1961), a former art student, later known as Mary, the daughter of a businessman who was also the head verger at Chichester Cathedral. Gill and Moore would eventually have three daughters and foster a son. After a short period in
Battersea Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park. Hist ...
the couple moved into 20 Black Lion Lane,
Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...
, in west London, near the, recently married, Johnstons' home on Hammersmith Terrace. Artists associated with the
Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...
, including Emery Walker, T. J. Cobden-Sanderson and May Morris, were already based in the area, as were several printers, including the Doves Press. Gill formed a business partnership with Lawrence Christie and recruited staff, including the 14-year-old Joseph Cribb, to work in his studio. Gill began giving lectures at the Central School and taught courses in monumental masonry and lettering for stonemasons at the Paddington Institute. In 1905 he was elected to the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society and joined the
Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...
the following year. After a period of intense involvement with the Fabians Gill became disillusioned with both them and the Arts and Craft movement. By 1907 he was writing and making speeches about the failures, both theoretical and practical, of the craft movement to resist the advance of mass production. In his diaries Gill records two affairs while living at Hammersmith. He had a brief affair with the family's maid while his wife was pregnant, and then a relationship with Lillian Meacham, who he had met through the Fabian Society. Gill and Meacham visited the Paris Opera and
Chartres Cathedral Chartres Cathedral (, lit. Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres) is a Catholic cathedral in Chartres, France, about southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the List of bishops of Chartres, Bishop of Chartres. Dedicated in honour of the Virgin Mary ( ...
together and when their affair ended she became an apprentice in Gill's workshop and remained a family friend throughout his life.


Ditchling Village 1907–1913

In 1907 Gill moved with his family to Sopers, a house in the village of Ditchling in Sussex, which would later become the centre of an artists' community inspired by Gill. Although by April 1908 Gill had established a workshop in Ditchling and dissolved his business partnership with Lawrence Christie, he continued to spend time in London visiting clients and delivering lectures while his wife, Ethel, organised their household and smallholding in Sussex. In London Gill would stay at his old lodgings in Lincoln's Inn with his brother Max or with his sister Gladys and Ernest Laughton, her future husband. Gill continued to concentrate on lettering and inscriptions for stonework and employed a pupil for his signwriting business. He also began to use wood-engraving techniques for his book illustration work, including a 1907 edition of ''Homer'' for Count Kessler. Late in 1909 Gill decided to become a sculptor. Gill had always considered himself an artisan craftsman rather than an artist. He rejected the usual sculpture technique of first making a model and then scaling up using a pointing machine in favour of directly carving the final figure. His first sculptures included ''Madonna and Child'' (1910), which the art critic
Roger Fry Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 – 9 September 1934) was an English painter and art critic, critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent ...
described as a depiction of "pathetic animalism", and the almost life-size work now known as '' Ecstasy'' (1911). The models for ''Ecstasy'' were his sister Gladys Gill and her husband, Ernest Laughton. The incestuous relationships between Gill and Gladys that continued during their lives had already begun at this point. There is also some evidence, from Gill's own writings, of an incestuous relationship with Angela, another of his sisters. An early admirer of Gill's sculptures was William Rothenstein and he introduced Gill, who was fascinated by Indian temple sculptures, to the Ceylonese philosopher and art historian Ananda Coomaraswamy. Along with his friend and collaborator
Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American and British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1910. Early in his ...
, Gill planned the construction in the Sussex countryside of a colossal, hand-carved monument in imitation of the large-scale structures at Gwalior Fort in
Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...
. Throughout the second half of 1910 Epstein and Gill would meet on an almost daily basis, but eventually their friendship soured very badly. Earlier in the year they had held long discussions with Rothenstein and other artists, including
Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...
and Ambrose McEvoy, about the formation of a religious brotherhood. At Ditchling Epstein worked on elements of Oscar Wilde's tomb in
Père Lachaise cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...
, for which Gill designed the inscription before sending Joseph Cribb, who had moved to Ditchling in 1907, to Paris to carve the lettering. Gill had his first sculpture exhibition in 1911 at the Chenil Gallery in London. Eight works by Gill were included in the Second Post-Impressionism Exhibition organised by Roger Fry at the
Grafton Galleries The Grafton Galleries, often referred to as the Grafton Gallery, was an art gallery in Mayfair, London. The French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel showed the first major exhibition in Britain of Impressionist paintings there in 1905. Roger Fry's t ...
in London during 1912 and 1913. By 1912, while Gill's main source of income was from gravestone inscriptions, he had also carved
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
figures and was widely assumed, wrongly at that time, to be a
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
artist. As such he was invited to an exhibition of Catholic art in Brussels and on route stayed for some days at the
Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
monastery at Mont-César Abbey near
Louvain Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the sub-municipalities of ...
. Gill's experiences at Louvain, seeing the monks at prayer and hearing
plainsong Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ; ) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. Plainsong was the exclusive for ...
for the first time, persuaded him to become a Catholic. In February 1913, after religious instruction from English Benedictines, Gill and Ethel were received into the Roman Catholic Church and Ethel changed her name to Mary.


Westminster Cathedral 1914–1918

In 1913, after Gill and his wife became Catholics, they moved to Hopkin's Crank at Ditchling Common, two miles north of Ditchling village. There Gill worked primarily for Catholic clients, such as his 1914 commission for the 14
Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...
in
Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral, officially the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, is the largest Catholic Church in England and Wales, Roman Catholic church in England and Wales. The shrine is dedicated to the Blood of Jesus Ch ...
. Gill was a surprising choice for the commission as he had only recently become a Catholic and had been a sculptor for only three years. He was prepared to do the work more quickly and for a lower fee than more established sculptors would. Gill modelled both the Christ figure in panel ten and a soldier in the second panel on himself. The Stations were not universally well received when they were erected, with criticism of their simple appearance and how starkly they contrasted with the rest of the cathedral interior. A minority, which eventually included
Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...
, praised their uncluttered design and unsentimental treatment of the subject. They are now considered among Gill's most accomplished large-scale works. Gill submitted proposals for decorations and works in other parts of the Cathedral building and eventually his design for the Chapel of Saint George and the English Martyrs was commissioned. Gill had been granted exemption from military service while working on the Stations of the Cross and when they were finished spent three months, from September 1918, as a driver at an RAF camp in Dorset before returning to Ditchling.


Ditchling Common 1918–1924

After World War I, together with Hilary Pepler and Desmond Chute, Gill founded a guild association to promote the ideals of medieval, or pre-industrial, craft production, the Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic at Ditchling. The Guild's emphasis was on manual labour as opposed to more modern industrial methods, such that they did not use mechanised tools and considered craft working a form of holy worship. All members of the Guild were Catholics and most, including Gill, were also members of the
Third Order of Saint Dominic The Third Order of Saint Dominic (; abbreviated TOP), also referred to as the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic or Lay Dominicans since 1972, is a Roman Catholic, Catholic third order which is part of the Dominican Order. As members of the Order ...
, a
third order The term third order signifies, in general, lay members of Christian religious orders, who do not necessarily live in a religious community such as a monastery or a nunnery, and yet can claim to wear the religious habit and participate in the goo ...
of the
Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...
. Lay members were not expected to follow the Dominicans' daily
Liturgy of the Hours The Liturgy of the Hours (), Divine Office (), or ''Opus Dei'' ("Work of God") are a set of Catholic prayers comprising the canonical hours, often also referred to as the breviary, of the Latin Church. The Liturgy of the Hours forms the official ...
, a schedule of prayers from the
Angelus FIle:Jean-François Millet (II) 001.jpg, ''The Angelus (painting), The Angelus'' (1857–1859) by Jean-François Millet The Angelus (; Latin for "angel") is a Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation (Christianity), Incarnation of Jesus ...
at 6am to
Compline Compline ( ), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer liturgy (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times. The English wor ...
at 9pm, but the group at Ditchling, unusually, did so. A chapel, designed by Gill, was built in the centre of the Guild's workshops and a wooden cross, with a Christ figure carved by Gill, was erected on a nearby hill. Gill had also taken to wearing a
habit A habit (or wont, as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. A 1903 paper in the '' American Journal of Psychology'' defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology, ...
, often with a symbolic cord of chastity added. In his family home, Gill determined that the household was to be free of modern appliances, with no bathroom, water drawn by a pump and cooking done on a log fire. One guest who brought a typewriter into the house was scolded for doing so. The children did not attend school. Alongside the Guild, Pepler set up the St Dominic's Press with a 100-year old Stanhope press that he bought. The Press printed books and pamphlets promoting the ideals of the Guilds' traditional craft techniques and also provided an outlet for Gill's engravings and woodcut illustrations. Gill and Pepler together produced issues of ''The Game'', a small journal, mostly illustrated by Gill and containing articles on craft and social matters. The views promoted by Gill and Pepler in ''The Game'' and their other publications were often deliberately provocative, anti-capitalist and opposed to industrialisation. Along with his Guild work and illustrations, Gill designed several war memorials in this period. These included the
Trumpington War Memorial Trumpington War Memorial is a war memorial cross in the village of Trumpington, on the southern outskirts of Cambridge. The memorial was designed by Eric Gill. It was unveiled in 1921, and became a Grade II* listed building in 1999. Proposa ...
in Cambridgeshire, the Chirk War Memorial in north Wales, the memorial at Ditchling, and the wall panel recording 228 names of the fallen in the ante-chapel at
New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...
. Gill also created the memorial at Briantspuddle in Dorset and, with Chute and Hilary Stratton, the monument at
South Harting South Harting is a village within Harting civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B ...
. Beside the main entrance to the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
, Gill designed and carved, with Joseph Cribb, the memorial inscription to the museum staff killed in the conflict and for the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
, again with Cribb, he created the war memorial in that museum's entrance hall. Previously, in 1911, Gill had cut the inscription for the foundation stone of the British Museum's new King Edward VII building. Gill's other significant work from this period was the Stations of the Cross that he carved, with Chute, for the Church of St Cuthbert in the Manningham area of Bradford. File:South Harting War Memorial, St. George.jpg, St George, detail of South Harting war memorial, West Sussex File:Ditchling War Memorial, showing inscription.jpg, Ditchling war memorial, Sussex File:War Memorial, Chirk (geograph 2343527).jpg, Chirk War Memorial, Wrexham File:Victoria & Albert Museum staff war memorial.jpg, Victoria & Albert Museum staff war memorial File:Briantspuddle war memorial close up 2.JPG, Detail of Briantspuddle war memorial, Dorset Commissioned to produce a war memorial for the
University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...
, Gill produced a
frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...
depicting the Cleansing of the Temple but showing contemporary merchants as the money-changers Jesus was driving from the Temple. While fully aware that this was an inappropriate subject for a war memorial and one likely to cause great offence in a commercial centre such as Leeds, Gill persisted with the design nonetheless. The cartoon-like nature of the finished frieze, which included the Hound of St Dominic knocking over a cash till, only added to the ferocity of the resulting uproar. Even before the Leeds memorial controversy, Gill's series of illustrations that included the ''Nuptials of God'', ''The Convert'' and ''Divine Lovers'' and his views on the sexual nature of Christianity were causing alarm within the Catholic hierarchy and distancing Gill from other members of the Ditchling community. The series of life-drawings and prints of his daughters, including ''Girl in Bath'' and ''Hair Combing'' done at Ditchling, were considered among Gill's finest works. The sexual abuse Gill was perpetrating on his two eldest daughters during the same period only became known after his death. Professional craft workers joined the community, such that by the early 1920s the community had grown to 41 people, occupying several houses in the 20 acres surrounding the Guild's chapel and workshops. Visitors to the Common included G. K. Chesterton and
Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc ( ; ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a French-English writer, politician, and historian. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. His Catholic fait ...
, whose
Distributist Distributism is an economic theory asserting that the world's productive assets should be widely owned rather than concentrated. Developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, distributism was based upon Catholic social teaching princi ...
ideas the Guild followed. Some young men who had been in combat in World War I came to stay for longer periods. These included Denis Tegetmeier, Reginald Lawson and the artist and poet David Jones, who was to become engaged for a time to Gill's second daughter, Petra. Gill became disillusioned with the direction of the Guild and fell out badly with his close friend Pepler, partly over the latter's wish to expand the community and form closer ties with Ditchling village and also because Gill's daughter Betty wanted to marry Pepler's son, David. Gill resigned from the Guild in July 1924 and, after considering other locations in Britain and Ireland, moved his family to a deserted monastery in the Black Mountains of Wales.


Capel-y-ffin 1924–1928

In August 1924 the Gills left Ditchling and with two other families moved to a disused Anglican monastery, Llanthony Abbey, at
Capel-y-ffin is a hamlet near the English-Welsh border, a couple of miles north of Llanthony in Powys, Wales. It lies within the Black Mountains and within the Brecon Beacons National Park. The nearest town is Hay-on-Wye, some to the northwest. History ...
in the Black Mountains of Wales. The dilapidated building was high in an isolated valley about fourteen miles from
Abergavenny Abergavenny (; , , archaically , ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a "Gateway to Wales"; it is approximately from the England–Wales border, border with England and is loca ...
. The monastery chapel was beyond repair, so a new one was quickly built and a
Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
monk from Caldey Abbey was assigned to the group to hold a daily Mass. Donald Attwater arrived at Capel-y-ffin shortly before the Gills, David Jones and René Hague, Joan Gill's future husband, all joined shortly after. Joseph Cribb did not make the move to Wales but his younger brother, Lawrence Cribb (1898–1979), did and eventually became Gill's main assistant. Within a few weeks of arriving at Capel-y-ffin, Gill completed ''Deposition'', a black marble torso of Christ, and made ''The Sleeping Christ'', a stone head now in
Manchester City Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre, England. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupi ...
. In 1926 he completed a sculpture of ''Tobias and Sara'' for the library of
St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...
. A war memorial altarpiece in oak relief for
Rossall School Rossall School is a private Day school, day and boarding school, boarding school in the United Kingdom for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St. Vincent Beechey, St Vincent Beechey as a ...
was completed in 1927. When approached, in 1924, by Robert Gibbings to produce designs for the Golden Cockerel Press which he and his wife, Moira, had recently acquired, Gill initially refused to work with the couple as they were not Catholics. Gill changed his mind when they sought to publish a volume of poems by his sister Enid. The relationship between Gill and the Gibbingses grew such that throughout the following ten years Gill became the chief engraver and illustrator for the Golden Cockerel Press. Several of the resulting books, including ''The Song of Songs'' (1925), ''Troilus and Criseyde'' (1927), ''The Canterbury Tales'' (1928), and ''The Four Gospels'' (1931) are considered classics of specialist book production. Gill created striking designs that unified and integrated illustrations into the text and also created a new typeface for the Press. The erotic nature of ''The Song of Songs'' and of the illustrations for Edward Powys Mathers's ''Procreant Hymn'' caused considerable controversy in Catholic circles and led to protracted arguments between Gill and members of the clergy. The Golden Cockerel printed four of Gill's own books and he illustrated a further thirteen works for the press. In addition, between 1924 and his death, Gill wrote 38 books and illustrated a further 28. The other key working relationship Gill established while at Capel-y-ffin was with
Stanley Morison Stanley Arthur Morison (6 May 1889 – 11 October 1967) was a British typographer, printing executive and historian of printing. Largely self-educated, he promoted higher standards in printing and an awareness of the best printing and typefaces ...
, the Typographic Advisor to the
Monotype Corporation Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc., founded as Lanston Monotype Machine Company in 1887 in Philadelphia by Tolbert Lanston, is an American (historically Anglo-American) company that specializes in digital typesetting and typeface design for use wit ...
. Morison persuaded Gill to apply the skills and knowledge he had gained in letter cutting to fonts suitable for mechanical reproduction. It was at Capel that Gill designed the typefaces Perpetua (1925) and
Gill Sans Gill Sans is a Sans-serif#Humanist, humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Eric Gill and released by the British branch of Monotype Imaging, Monotype in 1928. It is based on Edward Johnston's 1916 "Johnston (typeface), Underground Alphabet", t ...
(1927 onwards) and began work on Solus (1929). Gill Sans is considered one of the most successful typefaces ever designed and remains in widespread use. While living at Capel-y-ffin, Gill spent many weekends at Robert and Moira Gibbings' home in Waltham St Lawrence, enjoying the couple's unconventional and hedonistic lifestyle. He was also spending sizable amounts of time in Bristol with a group of young intellectuals centred around Douglas Cleverdon, a bookseller who published and distributed some of Gill's writings. From 1925 onwards Gills' secretary, and mistress, was Elizabeth Bill. Bill owned a villa set in several acres in the French Pyrenees at Salies-de-Béarn, which the Gills often visited. The Gill family spent the winter of 1926–27 there and Gill did many of the engravings for ''Troilus and Criseyde''. For the last months of 1927 he worked in a studio in London at Glebe Place in Chelsea creating the sculpture originally known as ''Humanity'' and now called ''Mankind''. The work, a giant torso, was modelled by Angela Gill and shown at the Goupil Gallery in London to considerable acclaim before being purchased by the artist
Eric Kennington Eric Henri Kennington (12 March 1888 – 13 April 1960) was an English sculptor, artist and illustrator, and an official British official war artists, war artist in both of the world wars. As a war artist, Kennington specialised in depictions ...
. Some years later Kennington offered the work to Whipsnade Zoo. The zoo refused the offer and the work is now in the
Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
collection but displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It had been too impractical to transport the stone for ''Mankind'' to Capel-y-ffin and it was clear that the site had become too remote and isolated for Gill's increasing commercial workload, and by May 1928 he was seeking a new home for his family and workshops. File:GillSansEG.svg, Gill Sans File:Joanna Nova sample image.png, Joanna Nova File:Perpetua_font_sample.png, Perpetua File:GoldenCockerel-1.jpg, Golden Cockerel type File:GillFaces.png, Three typefaces by Gill


Pigotts, Buckinghamshire 1928–1934

In October 1928, the Gill family moved to Pigotts at Speen, five miles from
High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
in Buckinghamshire. Around a quadrangle with a central pigsty were a large farmhouse housing Eric and Mary Gill, a cottage for Petra and her husband Denis Tegetmeier and another for Joanna and René Hague. Stables and barns were converted to studios and workshops and to house printing presses. A chapel was fitted into one corner and licensed within six months for the saying of Mass. The success of his 1928 exhibition at the Goupil Gallery had raised Gill's profile considerably and led to Charles Holden commissioning him to lead a team of five sculptors, including
Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...
, in creating some of the external sculptures for the new headquarters building of the London Electric Railway, the forerunner of
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...
. Gill started on the project within days of arriving at Pigotts and worked on site in London from November 1928 to carve three of eight relief sculptures on the theme of ''The Four Winds'' for the building. ''Art-Nonsense And Other Essays by Eric Gill'' was published in 1929 and marked the first commercial use of the '' Perpetua'' typeface. The frontispiece of the book had an engraving of ''Belle Sauvage'', an image of a naked women stepping out of some woods. The various versions of ''Belle Sauvage'' became among the most popular of Gill's illustrations and were modelled by Beatrice Warde, a historian of typography, an executive of the Monotype Corporation and sometimes Gill's lover. In 1929, Douglas Cleverdon published ''Engravings by Eric Gill''. This edition reproduced over a hundred of Gill's engravings on wood and metal up to the year 1927, and also included a complete chronological list of engravings, and a preface by Gill. By 1930 Gladys Gill had divorced her second husband after her first, Ernest Laughton, had been killed in the
Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...
, and she and Eric appear, from his diary entries, to have resumed their incestuous relationship. Later that same year, the diaries record what Gill called his "experiments" with a dog. In September 1930, he was taken seriously ill with a variety of symptoms, including amnesia, and spent several weeks in hospital. The following two years were among the most creatively accomplished of Gill's career, with several achievements. The Hague and Gill press was established at Pigotts in 1931 and eventually printed 16 of Gill's own books and booklets while he also illustrated six other books for the company. For the Hague and Gill press he created the ''
Joanna Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from . Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice, Jean, and Jeanne. The earliest recorded occurrence of th ...
'' typeface, which was eventually adapted for commercial use by Monotype. He completed ''The Four Gospels'', widely considered to be the finest of all the books produced by the Golden Cockerel Press, and began working on the sculpture ''Prospero and Ariel'' for the BBC's
Broadcasting House London Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. T ...
in London. Throughout 1931 and into 1932, Gill worked on ''Prospero and Ariel'', and four other works for the BBC, on site in central London. Carving in the open air up on scaffolding in the middle of London further increased Gill's public profile. Although Gill had accepted the BBC's choice of subject matter when he took the commission, he did not see its relevance and frequently claimed that the figures he created represented God the Father and God the Son, the latter complete with the marks of the
stigmata Stigmata (, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion Five Holy Wounds, wounds of Jesus in Christian ...
. The Midland Hotel, Morecambe was built in 1932–33 by the
London Midland & Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...
to the
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
design of Oliver Hill and included several works by Gill, Marion Dorn, and
Eric Ravilious Eric William Ravilious (22 July 1903 – 2 September 1942) was a British painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver. He grew up in Sussex, and is particularly known for his watercolours of the South Downs, Castle Hedingham and othe ...
. For the project Gill, with Lawrence Cribb and Donald Potter, produced two seahorses, modelled as Morecambe shrimps, for the outside entrance; a round plaster relief on the ceiling of the circular staircase inside the hotel; a decorative wall map of the north-west of England; and a large stone relief of
Odysseus In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...
being welcomed from the sea by
Nausicaa Nausicaa (; , or , ), also spelled Nausicaä or Nausikaa, is a character in Homer's ''Odyssey''. She is the daughter of King Alcinous and Arete (mythology), Queen Arete of Scheria, Phaeacia. Her name means "burner of ships" ( 'ship'; 'to burn' ...
for the entrance lounge. While working in Morecambe, Gill met May Reeves, who became a regular visitor to Pigotts before moving there to run a small school and becoming Gill's resident mistress for several years.


Jerusalem and Pigotts, 1934–1938

In 1934 Gill, with Lawrence Cribb, visited Jerusalem to work at the Palestine Archaeological Museum, now the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum. There they carved a stone
bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
of the meeting of Asia and Africa above the front entrance, together with ten stone reliefs illustrating different cultures, and a gargoyle fountain in the inner courtyard. He also carved stone signage throughout the museum in English, Hebrew and Arabic. Gill's two visits to Jerusalem had a profound impact on his state of mind. He became increasingly unhappy with the impact of humanity upon the world and also become convinced of his own role as one chosen by God to change society. Returning to England, Gill's mood of pessimism deepened with the death of his son-in-law, David Pepler, and he became increasingly antagonistic towards the Church and towards other artists. Paradoxically, alongside this despondent world view Gill dropped his long-standing opposition to the use of modern home comforts and appliances. A bathroom was installed at Pigotts, a chauffeur and a gardener were appointed and his secretaries were allowed to use typewriters. Religious observance was no longer expected of the workshop staff and among the additional apprentices and assistants Gill employed were non-Catholics, including Walter Ritchie. Prudence Pelham, the daughter of the Earl of Chichester, became Gill's only female apprentice. During his career, Gill employed at least twenty-seven apprentices including his nephew John Skelton, Hilary Stratton, Desmond Chute, David Kindersley and Donald Potter. Gill's 1935 essay ''All Art is Propaganda'' marked a complete reversal of his previous belief that artists should not concern themselves with political activity. He became a supporter of
social credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed in the 1920s and 1930s by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made t ...
and later moved towards a
socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
position. In 1934, Gill contributed art to an exhibition mounted by the left-wing Artists' International Association, and defended the exhibition against accusations in '' The Catholic Herald'' that its art was "anti-Christian". Gill became a regular speaker at left-wing meetings and rallies throughout the second half of the 1930s. He was adamantly opposed to
fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
, and was one of the few Catholics in Britain to openly support the Spanish Republicans. Gill became a pacifist and helped set up the Catholic peace organisation Pax with E. I. Watkin and Donald Attwater. Later, Gill joined the Peace Pledge Union and supported the British branch of the
Fellowship of Reconciliation The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR or FOR) is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries. They are linked by affiliation to the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). ...
. Gill was commissioned to produce a sequence of seven bas-relief panels for the façade of The People's Palace, now the Great Hall of
Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...
, which opened in 1936. In 1937, he designed the background of the first
George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...
definitive stamp A definitive stamp is a postage stamp that is part of the regular issue of a country's stamps, available for sale by the post office for an extended period of time and designed to serve the everyday postal needs of the country. The term is used in ...
series for the post office. In 1938 Gill was commissioned to create a mammoth artwork for the Palace of Nations building in Geneva, as the British Government's gift to the
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
. Gill's original proposal was to create a larger, international, version of the ''Moneychangers'' frieze that had caused such outrage in Leeds years earlier, but after objections from delegates to the League, submitted an alternative scheme. ''The Creation of Man'' flanked by ''Man's Gifts to God'' and ''God's Gifts to Man'' are three marble bas-reliefs in seventeen sections and constitute the largest single work Gill created during his career but are not considered among his finest works. In 1935, Gill was elected an Honorary Associate of the Institute of British Architects and in 1937 was made a Royal Designer for Industry, the highest British award for designers, by the
Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...
, and became a founder-member of the RSA's Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry when it was established in 1938. In April 1937, Gill was elected an associate member of the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
. Quite why Gill was offered, let alone accepted, these honours from institutions he had openly reviled throughout his career is unclear.


Final works, 1939–1940

During 1938 and 1939 Gill designed his only complete piece of architecture, the Catholic Church of St Peter the Apostle at
Gorleston-on-Sea Gorleston-on-Sea (), historically and colloquially known as Gorleston, is a seaside town in the borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England. It lies to the South of Great Yarmouth, on the opposite side of the mouth of the River Yare. Historic ...
. He designed the building around a central altar which, at the time, was considered a radical departure from the Catholic practice of the altar being at the east end of a church. Gill's final publications included ''Twenty-Five Nudes'' and ''Drawings from Life'' both of which included drawings of Daisy Hawkins, the teenage daughter of the Gills' housekeeper with whom Gill began an affair in 1937. The affair lasted two years during which time Gill drew her on an almost daily basis. When Hawkins was sent away from Pigotts, to the boarding house at Capel-y-ffin run by Betty Gill, Eric Gill followed her there to continue the relationship. Among Gill's last sculptures were a series of commissions for
Guildford Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral in Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow, Earl Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral ...
. He spent time between October and December 1939 working at Guildford, on scaffolding carving the figure of
John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...
. He also worked on a set of panels depicting the stations of the cross for the Anglican St Alban's Church in Oxford, finishing the drawings three weeks before he died and completing nine of the pieces himself. For the Chapel of Saint George and the English Martyrs, in Westminster Cathedral, Gill designed a low relief sculpture to occupy the wall behind the altar. Gill's design showed a life-sized figure of Christ the Priest on the cross attended by Sir
Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VII ...
and John Fisher. Gill died before the work was completed and Lawrence Cribb was tasked with finishing the piece by the Cathedral authorities who insisted he remove an element of Gill's original design, a figure of a pet monkey. When the chapel was eventually opened to the public this censorship of Gills' last work was a matter of some considerable controversy. From the end of 1939 into the middle of 1940, Gill had a series of illnesses, including
rubella Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infection caused by the rubella virus. This disease is often mild, with half of people not realizing that they are infected. A rash may start around two weeks after exposure and ...
, but managed to write his autobiography that summer. Gill died of
lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
in Harefield Hospital in
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
on the morning of Sunday 17 November 1940 and, after a funeral mass at the Pigotts chapel, was buried in Speen's Baptist churchyard. After Gill died an inventory of over 750 of his carved inscriptions was compiled, in addition to the over 100 stone sculptures and reliefs, 1000 engravings, the several typeface designs he created and his 300 printed works including books, articles and pamphlets.


Paedophilia, incest, and sexual abuse

In his personal diaries, Gill described his
sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...
of his adolescent daughters, an incestuous relationship with at least one of his sisters, and bestiality. Since these revelations became public in 1989, there have been calls for works by Gill to be removed from public buildings and art collections. This aspect of Gill's life was little known beyond his family and friends until the publication of the 1989 biography by Fiona MacCarthy. A 1966 biography by Robert Speaight mentioned none of it. Gill's daughter Petra Tegetmeier, who was alive at the time of the MacCarthy biography, described her father as having "endless curiosity about sex" and that "we just took it for granted", and told her friend Patrick Nuttgens she was unembarrassed. The children were educated at home and, according to Tegetmeier, she was then unaware of how her father's behaviour would seem to others. Despite the acclaim the book received, and the widespread revulsion towards aspects of Gill's sexual life that followed publication, MacCarthy received some criticism for revealing Gill's incest while Tegetmeier was still living. Others, like
Bernard Levin Henry Bernard Levin (19 August 1928 – 7 August 2004) was an English journalist, author and broadcaster, described by ''The Times'' as "the most famous journalist of his day". The son of a poor Jewish family in London, he won a scholarship t ...
, thought she had been too indulgent towards Gill. MacCarthy commented:
ter the initial shock, ... as Gill's history of adulteries, incest, and experimental connection with his dog became public knowledge in the late 1980s, the consequent reassessment of his life and art left his artistic reputation strengthened. Gill emerged as one of the twentieth century's strangest and most original controversialists, a sometimes infuriating, always arresting spokesman for man's continuing need of God in an increasingly materialistic civilization, and for intellectual vigour in an age of encroaching triviality.
Despite MacCarthy's revelations, for several years Gill's reputation as an artist continued to grow but, following the exposure of other high-profile paedophiles, this changed with groups and individuals calling for the removal of works by Gill. In 1998, a group, Ministers and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors, called for Gill's ''Stations of the Cross'' to be removed from Westminster Cathedral, leading to a debate within the British Catholic press. There were calls for Gill's statue of St Michael the Archangel to be removed from St Patrick's Catholic Church in
Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...
. In 2016, some residents in Ditchling objected to a proposal to erect a plaque by the village war memorial which would have identified Gill as the maker of the monument. In January 2022, a man climbed the façade of Broadcasting House and damaged the statue of ''Prospero and Ariel'' with a hammer, while another man shouted about Gill's
paedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...
. Some 2,500 people had previously signed a petition calling on the BBC to take the work down. In May 2023 the statue was again attacked by a man wielding a hammer. Since April 2025, the restored statue has been encased in a protective glass box to prevent further damage.
Guildford Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral in Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow, Earl Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral ...
announced in February 2022 that it was considering a 'new interpretation' concerning Gill's statues of John the Baptist and of Christ on the Cross which are on their building. Several organisations, including
Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...
, resolved to stop using typefaces designed by Gill. When, in 2017, the journalist
Rachel Cooke Rachel Cooke (born 1969) is a British journalist and writer. Early life Cooke was born in Sheffield, England, and is the daughter of a university lecturer in botany and a biology teacher. She went to school in Jaffa, Israel, until she was 11 ...
contacted museums holding Gill's work to question what, if any, impact the abuse revelations had on their policy towards showing material by him, the majority refused to engage with her. An exception was the Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, which holds many examples of Gill's work and also Gill family objects. In October 2016, the museum had held a workshop, ''Not Turning a Blind Eye'', with artists, curators and journalists invited to discuss how to address Gill's behaviour in its exhibition programme. This resulted in a 2017 exhibition ''Eric Gill: The Body'' and a commitment by the museum to include at least one display highlighting Gill's offending in its permanent exhibitions. In 2022 ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'' reported that it appeared that the museum had decided to reduce the prominence given to Gill's work among its exhibits.


Typefaces and inscriptions

In 1909, Gill carved ''Alphabets and Numerals'' for a book, ''Manuscript and Inscription Letters for Schools and Classes and for the Use of Craftsmen'', compiled by Edward Johnston. He later gave them to the Victoria and Albert Museum so they could be used by students at the Royal College of Art. In 1914, Gill had met the typographer
Stanley Morison Stanley Arthur Morison (6 May 1889 – 11 October 1967) was a British typographer, printing executive and historian of printing. Largely self-educated, he promoted higher standards in printing and an awareness of the best printing and typefaces ...
, later a typographic consultant for the
Monotype Corporation Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc., founded as Lanston Monotype Machine Company in 1887 in Philadelphia by Tolbert Lanston, is an American (historically Anglo-American) company that specializes in digital typesetting and typeface design for use wit ...
. Commissioned by Morison, he designed the
Gill Sans Gill Sans is a Sans-serif#Humanist, humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Eric Gill and released by the British branch of Monotype Imaging, Monotype in 1928. It is based on Edward Johnston's 1916 "Johnston (typeface), Underground Alphabet", t ...
typeface in 1927–30. Gill Sans was based on the sans-serif lettering originally designed for the
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...
. Gill had collaborated with
Edward Johnston Edward Johnston, CBE (San José de Mayo, Uruguay 11 February 1872 – 26 November 1944) was a British craftsman who is regarded, with Rudolf Koch, as the father of modern calligraphy, in the particular form of the broad-edged pen as a ...
in the early design of the Underground typeface, but dropped out of the project before it was completed. In 1925, he designed the Perpetua typeface for Morison, with the uppercase based upon monumental Roman inscriptions. An in-situ example of Gill's design and personal cutting in the style of Perpetua can be found in the nave of the church in
Poling, West Sussex Poling is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Arun District, Arun District of West Sussex, England, southeast of Arundel on a minor road south of the A27 road, A27. About 25% of the parish is wooded foothill slopes o ...
, on a wall plaque commemorating the life of Sir Harry Johnston. In the period 1930–31, Gill designed the typeface
Joanna Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from . Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice, Jean, and Jeanne. The earliest recorded occurrence of th ...
which he used to hand-set his book, '' An Essay on Typography''. File:Eric Gill - Alphabets and Numerals (1909) (V%26A).jpg, Alphabets and Numerals (1909) File:Sir Harry Johnston memorial plaque.JPG, Sir Harry Johnston memorial plaque File:Lowestoft Central sign straightened.jpg,
British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...
sign at
Lowestoft railway station Lowestoft railway station (formerly Lowestoft Central) serves the town of Lowestoft, Suffolk. It is the eastern terminus of the East Suffolk Line from and is one of two eastern termini of the Wherry Lines from (the other being ). Lowestoft is ...
in Gill Sans
Gill's other types include: * Golden Cockerel Press Type (for the Golden Cockerel Press; 1929) Designed bolder than some of Gill's other typefaces to provide a complement to wood engravings. * Solus (1929) * Aries (1932) * Floriated Capitals (1932) * Bunyan (1934) * Pilgrim (recut version of Bunyan; 1953) * Jubilee (also known as Cunard; 1934) These dates are not precise, since a lengthy period could pass between Gill creating a design and it being finalised by the Monotype drawing office team (who would work out many details such as spacing) and cut into metal. Dan Rhatigan is (or was) Type Director at Monotype. In addition, some designs such as Joanna were released to fine printing use long before they became widely available from Monotype. One of the most widely used British typefaces, Gill Sans, was used in the classic design system of
Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...
and by the
London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...
and later
British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...
, with many additional styles created by Monotype both during and after Gill's lifetime. In the 1990s, the BBC adopted Gill Sans for its
wordmark A wordmark or word mark is a text-only statement of the name of a product, service, company, organization, or institution which is used for purposes of identification and branding. A wordmark can be an actual word (e.g., Apple), a made-up term ...
and many of its on-screen television graphics. The family Gill Facia was created by Colin Banks as an emulation of Gill's stone carving designs, with separate styles for smaller and larger text. Gill was commissioned to develop a typeface with the number of
allograph In graphemics and typography, the term allograph is used of a glyph that is a design variant of a letter or other grapheme, such as a letter, a number, an ideograph, a punctuation mark or other typographic symbol. In graphemics, an obvious exa ...
s limited to what could be used on Monotype systems or
Linotype machine The Linotype machine ( ) is a "line casting" machine used in printing which is manufactured and sold by the former Mergenthaler Linotype Company and related It was a hot metal typesetting system that cast lines of metal type for one-time use. Li ...
s. The typeface was loosely based on the Arabic Naskh style but was considered unacceptably far from the norms of Arabic script. It was rejected and never cut into type.


Published works

Gill published numerous essays on the relationship between art and religion, and erotic engravings. Gill's published writings include: * ''Christianity and Art'', 1927 * ''Art-nonsense and other essays'', Cassell 1929 (pocket edition 1934) * ''Clothes: An Essay Upon the Nature and Significance of the Natural and Artificial Integuments Worn by Men and Women'', 1931 * '' An Essay on Typography'', 1931 * ''Beauty Looks After Herself'', 1933 * ''Unemployment'', 1933 * ''Money and Morals'', 1934 * ''Art and a Changing Civilization'', 1934 * ''Work and Leisure'', 1935 * ''The Necessity of Belief'', 1935 * ''Work and Property'', 1937 * ''Work and Culture'', '' Journal of the Royal Society of Arts'', 1938 * ''Twenty-five nudes'', 1938 * ''And Who Wants Peace?'', 1938 * ''Sacred and Secular'', 1940 * ''Autobiography: Quod Ore Sumpsimus'' * ''Notes on Postage Stamps'' * ''Christianity and the Machine Age'', 1940. * ''On the Birmingham School of Art'', 1940 * ''Last Essays'', 1943 * ''A Holy Tradition of Working: passages from the writings of Eric Gill'' 1983. Gill provided woodcuts and illustrations for several books including: * * Facsimile edition published by Christopher Skelton at the September Press, Wellingborough, 1987. * * * The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the four evangelists. Hague & Gill Printers. 1934 Faber & Faber File:Arthur Eric Rowton Gill (1882 - 1940) - Eve - ABDAG007776 - Aberdeen City Council (Archives, Gallery and Museums Collection).jpg, ''Eve'', 1926 File:Christ on the Cross - Arthur Eric Rowton Gill - ABDAG006172.jpeg, ''Christ on the Cross'' File:Angels Trumpet - Arthur Eric Rowton Gill - ABDAG006170.jpeg, ''Angels Trumpet'' File:Autumn Midnight - Arthur Eric Rowton Gill - ABDAG006169.jpeg, ''Autumn Midnight'', c. 1923 File:Mrs Ruth Lowinsky - Arthur Eric Rowton Gill - ABDAG006173.jpeg, ''Mrs Ruth Lowinsky''


Archives

Gill's reference file of his engraved work, including impressions of almost all the engravings together with some related drawings, was donated to the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
by his widow in 1952. The collection was supplemented by a later donation from Douglas Cleverdon. The collection formed the basis of a catalogue of Gill's engraved work prepared by John Physick and published in 1963. Gill's papers and library are archived at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library at
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
in California, designated by the Gill family as the repository for his manuscripts and correspondence. Some of the books in his collection have been digitised as part of the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
. Additional archival and book collections related to Gill and his work reside at the University of Waterloo Library and the University of Notre Dame's Hesburgh Library. Much of Gill's work and memorabilia is held and is on display at the Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft.


Notes


References


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

*
Biography of Gill on website of The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic
with commentary on his 'unorthodox' interpretation of Catholicism
Manuscript & Inscription Letters
Edward Johnston Edward Johnston, CBE (San José de Mayo, Uruguay 11 February 1872 – 26 November 1944) was a British craftsman who is regarded, with Rudolf Koch, as the father of modern calligraphy, in the particular form of the broad-edged pen as a ...
, 1909 (plates by Gill)
Portraits of Gill in the National Portrait Gallery, London

Portraits by Gill in the National Portrait Gallery, London

Prints and drawings by Gill in the British Museum collection

''Twenty-five Nudes''
Gill, 1938 (collected drawings)
''Troilus and Criseyde''
Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
, translated by George Philip Knapp, 1932
Works by Gill in the National Museum Wales collection
(woodcuts by Gill) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, Eric 1882 births 1940 deaths 20th-century English essayists 20th-century English sculptors 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century English engravers 20th-century English diarists Academics of the Central School of Art and Design Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Alumni of the Westminster School of Art Artists from Brighton Arts and Crafts movement Associates of the Royal Academy British architectural sculptors British erotic artists British letter cutters British stamp designers Burials in Berkshire Child sexual abuse in England Converts to Roman Catholicism Deaths from lung cancer in England English anti-fascists English graphic designers English illustrators English male sculptors English pacifists English rapists English Roman Catholics English sex offenders English socialists English typographers and type designers English wood engravers Incestual abuse Monumental masons People from Ditchling Stone carvers Zoophilia Members of the Fabian Society English pamphleteers Writers from Sussex