Anthony Gross was born in Dulwich, London. He studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London before moving to Paris to train as an etcher and engraver. He travelled widely in Europe and North Africa, eventually settling in France, where he produced a series of witty etchings on French provincial life, particularly of the factory suburbs of Paris where he himself lived. He became interested in cartoon films, of which he made several, and had started work on Around the World in 80 Days for Alexander Korda when war was declared; the film was never finished. He was appointed an Official War Artist and was in the campaigns in Egypt, India and Burma, where he drew some of the fringe activities of the ranks that captured the camaraderie of service life. After the war he returned to France, continuing some of his film work, and painting in oils as well as pursuing his production of drawings and etchings. In 1970 he published Etching, Engraving and Intaglio Print, a classic work on the techniques of print-making.

Further reading:
Anthony Gross, Paintings Drawings Prints, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 1989 (text by Jane Lee)
Robin Herdman, The Prints of Anthony Gross: A catalogue raisonné, Scolar Press, Aldershot 1991
Anthony Gross, Scolar Press, Aldershot 1992 (texts by Mary and Peter Gross; Sebastian Carter, David Curtis, Richard Morphet, Graham Reynolds and Angela Weight)

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.

  • Film

    A transparent, flexible plastic material, usually of cellulose acetate or polyester, on which light-sensitive emulsion is coated, or on which an image can be formed by various transfer processes.

  • Intaglio

    Is the generic term used to describe printing from a surface (most commonly a copper, zinc or steel plate) which holds ink in the grooves, textures or pitted areas which have been cut, scratched or etched. In order to obtain a print, ink is pushed into the incisions on the plate and the non-printed area wiped clean before being laid over with a piece of dampened paper and rolled through an etching press. (See also Etching; Drypoint; Engraving; Aquatint; Mezzotint)

  • Painting

    Work of art made with paint on a surface. Often the surface, also called a support, is a tightly stretched piece of canvas, paper or a wooden panel. Painting involves a wide range of techniques and materials, along with the artist's intellectual concerns effecting the content of a work.