Canadian [1898-1992]
Canadian Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers
Sybil Andrews was born on April 19, 1898 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, while teaching herself art through a correspondence program. She went to work at the Standard Motor Company, welding airplane parts during World War I. After the war, Andrews met Cyril Power, an architect and 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: a medium for a new era.
Sybil Andrews thrived in this new medium, producing numerous works in the Hammersmith (London) studio that she shared with the like-minded Cyril Power. Andrews’ dynamic and modernist prints are characteristic of the golden age of design in the 1920s and 1930s., 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 and her work.
In 1938, Andrews and Power closed their studio. During WWII, Sybil Andrews once again worked as a welder for the war effort, this time working on warships instead of airplanes (at the British Power Boat Company shipyard at Southampton). Following the War, Andrews married Walter Morgan (whom she had met at the shipyard) and the two immigrated to Canada. They settled in Campbell River, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, which at that time was a remote logging town.
Here, she lived a simple life, teaching art and music. After a period of adjustment, Andrews began to create linocuts again in 1951, as she was still driven by the desire to create “art that can show the everyday life of today”. In this second chapter of her artistic life, Andrews work was thematically influenced by the scenes around her in her new homeland.
Andrews died in Victoria, BC on December 21, 1992 at the age of 95.
The Glenbow Museum (Calgary AB) held a retrospective exhibition of Sybil Andrews’ work in 1982, and then again in 2020 with the exhibition “Sybil Andrews: Art and Life”.
Sybil Andrews work can be found in many public collections including: British Museum (London); National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa); The Museum of Modern Art (New York); The Met (New York); The Art Institute of Chicago; National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.); Museum of Fine Art (Boston); and Glenbow Museum (Calgary).
Literature: “Sybil Andrews Linocuts: A Complete Catalogue” (Hana Leaper & Osborne Samuel; Lund Humphries, 2015); “Sybil Andrews and the Grosvenor School Linocuts” (Hana Leaper; Osborne Samuel Ltd.; 2015)”Linocuts of the Machine Age: Claude Flight and the Grosvenor School” (Stephen Coppel; Scholar Press, 1995); “Sybil Andrews” (Peter White; Glenbow-Alberta Institute; 1982)
Artist: Sybil Andrews
Title: COFFEE BAR
Date: 1952
Medium: linocut in four colours on paper; ed. #18/60
Dimensions: 8 x 9 in. (20.3 x 22.9 cm)
Notes:
signed, titled & editioned
Note: Exhibition label verso (Glenbow Museum). This specific piece appears in colour as no. 48 on p. 47 of the catalogue). Illustrated p. 121 (SA 51) of “Linocuts of the Machine Age” (Stephen Coppel; 1995).
LOT: 221
Auction: 2014 November | Hodgins Art Auctions
Artist: Sybil Andrews
Title: FLOWER GIRLS
Date: 1934
Medium: colour linocut on paper; ed. #38/60
Dimensions: 9.25 x 8.5 in. (23.5 x 21.6 cm)
Notes:
signed, titled & editioned
Provenance: Estate of John Lecky, Calgary (by descent)
Reference: Coppel SA 28
Note: Illustrated p. 40 (Plate 8) “Sybil Andrews” (Glenbow Museum) and p. 114 “Linocuts of the Machine Age” (Coppel). Printed from 4 blocks: chrome yellow, spectrum red, permanent blue & Chinese blue; exhibited London 1936 (Redfern)
LOT: 285
Auction: 2015 November | Hodgins Art Auctions
Artist: Sybil Andrews
Title: RACING
Date: 1934
Medium: linocut in four colours on paper; ed. #22/60
Dimensions: 10 x 12.5 in. (25.4 x 31.8 cm)
Notes:
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)
LOT: 55
Auction: 2019 May | Hodgins Art Auctions
Artist: Sybil Andrews
Title: BRINGING IN THE BOAT
Date: 1933
Medium: colour linocut on paper; ed. #46/60
Dimensions: 12.75 x 10 in. (32.4 x 25.4 cm)
Notes:
signed, titled & editioned
Reference: Coppel SA 24
Note: Illustrated p. 34 (Plate 2) “Sybil Andrews” (Glenbow Museum); p. 112 “Linocuts of the Machine Age” (Coppel); p. 71 “Sybil Andrews Linocuts: A Complete Catalogue” (Leaper); p. 45 “Sybil Andrews and the Grosvenor School Linocuts” (Osbourne Samuel). Printed from 3 blocks: venetian red, viridian & Chinese blue.
Following the First World War, sport became a popular and appealing pastime for the general public. Andrews was particularly interested in conveying the rhythmic motion of the human body-a dynamic machine-in everyday activities and sport. This image was inspired by the common sighting from Andrew’s studio near the Hammersmith bridge on the Thames, of rowers and their boats.
Hanna Leaper in Sybil Andrews Linocuts: A Complete Catalogue writes on this piece “Amongst the most aggressively schematised of Andrews’ prints, the visually arresting interplay between the foreground figures and their blank counterparts is accentuated by the clever use of negative space, which creates angular, independent volumes between the teamed pairs.”
LOT: 121
Auction: 2016 May | Hodgins Art Auctions
Artist: Sybil Andrews
Title: PLOUGHING PASTURE
Date: 1954/5
Medium: colour linocut on paper; ed. # 24/60
Dimensions: 11.25 x 14.5 in.
Notes:
signed, titled & editioned
Illustrated p. 44 “Sybil Andrews”; 1982
Illustrated p. 121 “linocuts of the Machine Age”; 1995
LOT: 388
Auction: 2006 November | Hodgins Art Auctions
Artist: Sybil Andrews
Title: HAYSEL
Date: 1936
Medium: colour linocut on paper; ed. #39/60
Dimensions: 9.25 x 11 in. (23.5 x 27.9 cm)
Notes:
signed, titled & editioned
Illustrated: p. 84 “Sybil Andrews Linocuts: A Complete Catalogue” (Leaper/Samuel, 2015); p. 117 “Linocuts of the Machine Age” (Coppel, 1995); p. 59 “Sybil Andrews” (Glenbow, 1982)
Reference: Coppel SA37; White 37
Note: Printed from 4 blocks in chrome yellow, red, permanent blue & Chinese blue.
LOT: 96
Auction: 2017 May | Hodgins Art Auctions
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