Clare Leighton was born in London; she studied at Brighton School of Art and at the Slade School of Fine Art, London. In 1939 she moved to America with her parents and became a US citizen in 1945. Her style was distinctive, using large dark areas defined by the finest of lines. Some 800 of her wood blocks were reprinted in New York in the 1970s. Her works in the British Council Collection are printed from the original blocks.

Out of the Wood: British Woodcuts and Wood Engravings 1890 - 1945, The British Council 1991