Calligraphy and Letter Cutting

This exhibition is a rare opportunity to enjoy and buy work by some of the very greatest artists in these mediums.  It will include work by Andrew Anderson, Gareth Colgan, Gerald Fleuss, Patricia Gidney, Gaynor Goffe, Susan Hufton, Stan Knight, John Nash, Timothy Noad, Tom Perkins, Joan Pilsbury and Quinlan Terry.

Gerald Fleuss

Calligraphy and illumination, at their finest in the astonishing beauty of medieval manuscripts, have during the course of the twentieth century established themselves as thoroughly contemporary art forms. At the beginning of the twentieth century Edward Johnston, considered to be the father of modern calligraphy, redefined the use of the edged pen. Mainly due to his studies, analysis and teaching, present day scribes are producing hand-written documents to rival even the historical masterpieces.

One of Johnston's early students, Graily Hewitt, researched fourteenth-century methods of laying gold leaf, conducting experiments over many years into the composition of gesso as a raising preparation. Through these experiments he recovered the lost art of raised and burnished gilding and his work has inspired exciting developments in late twentieth - and early twenty-first-century illumination.

The traditional body of work for the scribe today includes presentation addresses, freedom scrolls, Patents of Nobility, ecclesiastical service books and memorials, diplomas and certificates and decorative panels of poetry and prose. Calligraphy has also been the basis for other lettering disciplines such as letter carving in wood and stone, letter engraving on glass and in type design, where it underlies many of them most influential modern typefaces.

Significantly, the demand for calligraphy in work for reproduction in media such as newspapers, magazines, film and television and graphic design is growing. There is an increasing interest in collecting works of contemporary calligraphy and private individuals as well as public bodies are among the patrons of the craft.