George Mackley

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George Edward Mackley MBE (born 1900 in Huntingdon, died 1983 in Tonbridge, Kent) was an English wood engraving artist.

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Career

Educated at the Judd School in Tunbridge, Kent, Mackley trained as a teacher of art at Goldsmiths' College, London, specializing in painting and etching. In 1935, he learned basic wood engraving technique from Noel Rooke. [1]

Mackley's book Wood Engraving, published in 1948, remains one of the leading manuals of engraving techniques. [2] In A History of British Wood Engraving (1978) Albert Garrett described him as ‘a phenomenon in British engraving. A few square centimetres of Mackley is more charged with aesthetic energy, emotion and precision than many artists can muster in a lifetime [...] He could not tolerate bad or weak craftsmanship under any circumstances; bad draughtsmanship met with short shrift from him. He makes no claims to being a creative artist and always stresses that he is primarily a craftsman.' [3]

He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1983 New Year Honours. [4]

Publications

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References

  1. "George Mackley (1900 - 1983)".
  2. Biography- Brierhill Gallery , Boston US
  3. Albert Garrett, A History of British Wood Engraving (1978), p. 223.
  4. "No. 49212". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1982. p. 15.

Further reading