Monica Poole: Nature’s Dark Beauty

This autumn, Gainsborough's House will hold the first monographic exhibition in the UK in more than 30 years dedicated to the wood engravings of Monica Poole (1921-2003).

Monica Poole: Nature's Dark Beauty will feature over 20 wood engravings, showcasing the exquisite detail that has secured her place as one of the leading practitioners of the medium in the interwar and post-war years.

The last retrospective of her work was at the Ashmolean Museum in 1993, 10 years before her death at the age of 82. Since then, her reputation has continued to grow, and her work resides in many collections across the world including the Ashmolean Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum among many others.

This exhibition will be an in-depth opportunity to see the work that was being produced during a flourishing of interest in wood-engraved books celebrating the English countryside. During this revival of wood engraving, Poole remained rooted in the traditions of the medium, but pushed its expressive and technical possibilities, creating dark, surreal and uncanny works.

Photo: Herbage by Monica Poole, 1979, wood engraving. The Brown Collection.