One of the highlights of our Prints & Multiples sale on 4 December is an exceptional private collection of Grosvenor School linocuts. The School was founded in London in the mid 1920s by Claude Flight (1881–1955). Flight worked chiefly with the innovative medium of linocut, carving out rhythmic and often hypnotic Vorticist compositions which captured the movement and power of the post-war Machine Age.
Block printing, a technique first used by the German Expressionists in the early 20th century, allowed Flight and his students, including Sybil Andrews and Cyril Power, to create strong lines and bold colours. The medium perfectly conveyed the pace and energy of everyday life at that time, which can be felt in such iconic works as Cyril Power’s The Sunshine Roof (lot 111) and Sybil Andrew’s Concert Hall (lot 117).
The work of this dynamic group of artists captured the spirit of the rapidly changing world of the 1920s and 1930s, and remains popular with international collectors to this day.