signed, titled & dated in pencil lower left
Provenance: The Redfern Gallery, London, England; Masters Gallery, Calgary AB
Reference: White 32; Coppel SA32; Leaper 34
Illustrated cover and p. 57 “Sybil Andrews” (Peter White; Glenbow-Alberta Institute; 1982); p. 79 “Sybil Andrews Linocuts: A Complete Catalogue” (Hana Leaper & Osborne Samuel; Lund Humphries; 2015); pp. 20-21 and back end paper “Sybil Andrews and the Grosvenor School Linocuts” (Hana Leaper; Osborne Samuel Ltd.; 2015)
Sybil Andrews was born in the small town of Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, England. She spent her childhood drawing and painting, though did not have the means to continue onto art school after high school; instead, she apprenticed as a welder, and went on to work at the Standard Motor Company, welding airplane parts during World War I – all the while, teaching herself art through correspondence. After the war, Andrews met Cyril Power, an architect and hopeful artist, who initially took on the role of mentor and sketching partner. The two would go on to become close friends and long-term associates, exhibiting together for the first time in 1921. In 1922, with the aid of a small inheritance, Sybil Andrews was able to enroll in the Heatherley School of Fine Art. Then, in 1925, Andrews fatefully took the position of school secretary at the newly formed Grosvenor School of Modern Art; this arrangement allowed her to earn a living and some free tuition. Andrews soon began to attend Claude Flight’s classes in linoleum-cut printing. Flight, influenced by Futurism, Cubism and Vorticism, brought to the school an innovative approach to art, and new printing techniques; these would provide Andrews with her ideal artistic vehicle.
Sybil Andrews’ dynamic and modernist linocut prints are characteristic of the golden age of design in the 1920s and 1930s. The Grosvenor School linocuts were prints for a new era, reflecting the speed, movement, and hustle-bustle of a rapidly changing world. Strong colour, simplification of form, the use of geometric and decorative patterning, and expressive rhythm were hallmarks of the genre. In “Racing”, Andrews effectively uses repetitive motif and geometric manipulation to capture a sense of speed – the horses heads blend into the track, the reigns into the arms of the riders. The stylized horses, sweeping rhythm and colour palette suggest that this piece relates to the collaborative work “Epsom Summer Meeting” produced in 1933 by “Andrew Power” (commissioned by London Transport to promote the derby and racecourse as a destination). Founded in 1780 by the 12th Earl of Derby, and the original “Derby”, it is England’s oldest, richest, and most prestigious of the racing Classics.
This important work can be found in many public collections including: The Museum of Modern Art, NY (235.2006); The Met, NY (2005.470.5); The Art Institute of Chicago (1985.969); and Glenbow Museum (80.19.2)
