Erotically diverted? The work of Eric Gill

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Eric Gill: Lust for Letter and Line

Ruth Cribb and Joe Cribb

This is a small bargain – a clearly thought-out paperback introduction to one of the most unusual and (some would say) notorious minds in the history of Britain’s art. It’s an excellent starting-point: a strong, introductory account of Gill’s life and career, for anyone with no immediate need of the depth of Fiona McCarthy’s groundbreaking exposé (Faber, 1989), or of Speaight’s 1966 account of Saint Eric of Gill. The front cover of the BM book doesn’t bear the subtitle – too erotically diverting perhaps? – it’s on the inside title page.

But it won’t matter who reads this: the BM imprimatur will supply the appropriate seal of approval, and rightly so. The Cribbs have done a sterling job on their subject, with a succinct text, illustrated almost entirely from the BM’s Gill holdings, though referring occasionally to works in other major collections. The whole has been treated with attractive restraint by the British Museum design team, and Gill’s own typefaces, Perpetua and Gill Sans, have been used to do the basic business. Chapter headings – ‘The Past’, ‘Connections, ‘God’, ‘Print’, ‘The Body’, ‘The Book’ and ‘It All Goes Together– are emblematic, and are clearly and cogently written. All in all, text and image are pretty symmetrical, balanced straightforwardly, even, between Sex and Religion. No real surprises there, then, but if this text is studied in its simplicity, it is also subtle.

The Cribbs aren’t cagey about the grating contrasts in Gill’s output, no matter the efforts of some of his apologists to conceal his earthier personal traits. Indeed, this BM publication rightly displays the undeniable, collective  ‘Wow factor’ in Gill’s work, presenting it as a feature that really needs to be established, understood and evaluated in isolation from the uncomfortable realities of existence within the Gill family circle, as they have come to be exposed. As they were in Gill’s life and practice, text and image are key to the intrinsic value of this little book, a fact that any prospective purchaser should be quickly aware of. This is very good value indeed.

Eric Gill: Lust for Letter and Line  by Ruth Cribb and Joe Cribb is published by the British Museum Press, 2011.  112pp., fully illustrated in mono and colour, £9.99. ISBN 978-0-7141-1819-2