Betty Swanwick was born in Forest Hill, London. She studied at Goldsmiths College of Art where her tutors were Edward Bawden and Clive Gardiner, and later at the Royal College of Art and the Central School of Arts and Crafts. She subsequently returned to Goldsmiths where she taught from 1948-1961. In addition to the many designs Swanwick produced for the printed media, she also painted murals for the Festival of Britain and the Evelina Children’s hospital in Southwark. In 1973 she designed the album cover for Selling England by the pound by Genesis. Her work was quintessentially English, combining quirkiness and spirituality. She became a Royal Academician in 1979 and her work portrait of the author JRR Tolkein is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Further reading
Paddy Rossmore, Betty Swanwick Artist & Visionary, 2008. Chris Beetles Gallery, London