THIS BOOK is a celebration of the sculpture of Eric Gill, who,to date, has been better known for the events of his life than for his work. It intends to reinstate Gill as a significant British sculptor of the interwar years and provides rich evidence of his professional practice. Gill produced a remarkable amount of sculpture in a short career that spanned only thirty years. He died aged fifty-eight of lung cancer in November 1940 during an air raid.

His work was first revealed to the London public in January 1911 and his last commission for the new Guildford Cathedral was completed by assistants in his workshop after his death. Gill's appearance on the London art scene in 1911 and his working association with Jacob Epstein at that time ensure that he has a seminal role in the development of modern sculpture in this country. But he did not remain a central figure in that story and subsequently diverted his thoughts and energies into a different arena. He spent a good deal of his time writing essays, letters and pamphlets about issues that urgently concerned him, notably social and artistic questions, graphic design, religion, sexuality and pacificism. He is guaranteed a seat on Olympus for his work with lettering and typeface design, and the radical simplifications that he achieved in this were equalled in his stone carvings.

PREFACE

ERIC GILL THE SCULPTOR

GILL AND THE ART WORLD  

THE BEGINNINGS  OF SCHLPTURE  

THE TECHNIQHE  OF DIRECT CARVING  

GILL AND THE  SUBJECT  OF THE  CRUCIFIXION  

GILL AND THE THEME  OF THE VIRGIN MARY 

GILL AND THE FEMALE NUDE 

GILL AND HIS COLLABORATION WITH EPSTEIN 

GILL AND THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS

GILL AND THE PRIESTHOOD

WAR MEMORIALS

SECULAR INTO SACRED

NOTES

THE CATALOGUE 

CHRONOLOGY

EXHIBITION HISTORY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PHOTOGRAPHIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INDEX