Iain MacNab was born in Iloilo in the Philippines; he studied at Glasgow School of Art and Heatherley’s School of Fine Art, London. He became owner and principal of the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in London, and was influential in spreading the practice of wood engraving and in fostering the development of linocut printmaking. The school encouraged students’ individuality and allowed them to join for whatever length of time they chose; it attracted passing visitors from abroad and thus its ideas and activities were carried abroad in their turn. In 1938 he published The Student’s Book of Wood Engraving. His work shows clarity of form and composition in a vaguely Vorticist manner.

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

Glossary

  • Engraving

    An intaglio process whereby lines are cut into a metal or wood plate using an engraving tool (a burin), which is pushed in front of the hand to achieve a sharp controlled incision capable of great delicacy. This technique requires a great deal of control and is not suited to spontaneous mark-making.

  • Linocut

    A relief print, made by cutting into the surface of a piece of lino with a simple gouge, knife or engraver’s tool. The surface of the lino is then inked and printed: this can be done by passing it through a press, though it can also be done manually by rubbing the paper onto the lino with the back of a wooden spoon or similar implement.

See in

  • Art Project