Westport River Gallery in Westport, Connecticut is proud to represent the unique works of Henry Wilkinson. The gallery also represents British artists Stanley Andrews and Stephen Hawkins. Far below is the artist at work in his studio.
Henry Wilkinson was born into an artistic family, his father having been taught to paint by John Ruskin, eventually became the Headmaster of Winchester College of Art. His genuine deep love and understanding for country life, rural pursuits and well bred dogs.It was whilst living in Winchester that the young Wilkinson learned the first skills of Gun Making, climbing out of the scullery window in the evenings to work, unknown to his farther, at the famous gunmakers 'Hamond of Winchester'. It was at Hammonds that Henry Wilkinson first became fascinated by engraving, learning from the craftsmen who decorated the metalwork on the hand-made firearms.
Today Henry Wilkinson is one of the last remaining qualified Muzzle Loading' gun maker in the country. Following his early studies at Winchester College of Art, entrance was gained to the Royal College of Art in the Painting School. By hard work a place was also gained in the Engraving School, under Robert Austin R.A. and Malcolm Osbourne MA. MBE, where he won the Royal British Institute Scholarship in Engraving. This gave him extra time at the college and enabled him to gain a traveling scholarship, as well as the diplomas. Study in Heidelberg, France and Italy followed. After the war artist-engraver Henry Wilkinson was elected to the Royal Society of Painters, Etchers & Engravers, ultimately as a counselor. For many years he was professor of the Engraving School at the City and Guilds of London, a consultant to the Morris Singer Bronze Founders and a council member of the Royal Society of Painter Etchers. While a student at the Royal College of Art Wilkinson was introduced to George Vernon Stokes the famous canine artist and engraver, Wilkinson then helped Stokes print his editions until his death in 1954.
It was only then that Wilkinson began to produce his original drypoints of Dogs and other Sporting Subjects. Today, now 87,Wilkinson works alone in his studio - workshop in rural Kent, still producing his limited editions entirely single-handed. From origination, to hand engraving his metal plates and eventually printing and finishing the editions, the work is entirely his own. He even produces his own printing inks. The following reference is on the website of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC about engravers, including Wilkinson: In the late 20th century many American printmakers were using engraving in combination with other intaglio techniques, including Peter Milton (b 1930), who combined elegant burin work with photosensitive ground, aquatint and lift-ground etching in his black-and-white prints. Pure engraving at the end of the 20th century had moved beyond the earlier formalist focus on line per se to focus on figurative imagery with a renewed interest in rich tone. The few artists working as engravers selected the burin for its unique ability to produce its characteristic lines and tones and for its simplicity of means. In the USA they included Beth van Hoesen (b 1926), Evan Lindquist (b 1936), Brian Paulsen and Amy Worthen (b 1946). The situation in Britain was more diverse. Such Hayter-trained engravers as Jean Lodge (born in the USA) flourished, while traditional engravers in the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers continued to dominate the British conception of the medium. Henry Wilkinson, David Wickes, Ann Le Bas (b 1930) and Lawrence Jossett (b 1910) made delicate engravings executed with the highest craftsmanship. Britain remained the one place where traditional engraving techniques for silversmiths, gunmakers and banknote engravers as well as artists continued to be taught. Students from Britain and other countries came to study engraving in the three-year silversmiths’ course at the City of London Polytechnic (now London Guildhall University), Sir John Cass College of Art, intended primarily for students planning to qualify by examination for the guilds.
