Eric Gill, Stay me with Apples (1925) © The Estate of Eric Gill/ Bridgeman Art
Exhibition: Eric Gill: Sacred and Profane, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, until 28 February 2010.
On occasions an artist’s biography can threaten to leave their body of work in the shade. This has arguably been the case with renowned engraver, typographer and sculptor Eric Gill.
Since the publication of a biography in 1989 by Fiona MacCarthy, Gill’s legacy has been dogged with accusations of incest and bestiality. The new exhibition at Pallant House Gallery examines the polarities in the work of a man whose career has controversially come to symbolise two of the last taboos.
Born in 1882, Gill became one of the most prolific English artists of his generation. Over a long career he produced more than a hundred engraved designs for books and became intricately linked with the arts and craft movement.
His work is characterised by a fervent Roman Catholicism. Images of saints, Biblical scenes and crucifixions dominate. These, however, are juxtaposed with drawings of an often overtly sexual nature – couples embrace passionately and nude figures pose provocatively, frequently in the shadow of the heavens.
“Gill somehow found a way of accommodating both deeply religious and also sexual imagery,” explains Simon Martin, Curator of Pallant House Gallery. “He had very strong views and opinions. It was only really with the publication of MacCarthy’s biography, however, that the sexual connections in terms of the accusations of incest were made.
“In his lifetime, Gill was seen as something of a catholic curiosity, particularly in the period between 1910 and 1924 when he would walk around in long, religious robes,” adds Martin, who acquired much of the work on display from the Eric Gill Collection at the West Sussex Record Office.
“He would go as far as wearing a chastity girdle, but even in the few weeks after his wedding he recorded in his diary that he had been adulterous with a maid.”
Eric Gill, Ascension (1918) © The Estate of Eric Gill/ Bridgeman Art
Gill’s work, like his life, seems to be full of contradictions. The exhibition exploreshow seemingly irreconcilable elements in his art come together to form a unique andvery striking whole.
There is something rather disturbing about The De’Longhi Print room that contains the work. The undeniably elegant typographical designs are understated, yet extremely powerful and an eerie, almost deviant silence pervades the small, dimly lit space.
One of the first pieces is a self-portrait of Gill. Captured in profile, his stare is thoughtful and intense. It stays with you as you wander around the room, wondering what he was thinking as he created the pared-down, startlingly clear biblical sets with their often brazen sexuality. Knowing what we now know about him, it is actually quite an uncomfortable sensation.
There is an extraordinary range and variety of work here. The audacious Stay Me With Apples perfectly combines the religious and erotic with the embracing couple wearing halos, while Lovers, Man Lying is even more graphic in its portrayal of ecstatic abandon.
The most haunting image, however, is the simply titled Girl in Bath. This is a portrait of Gill’s daughter, Petra, who he was accused of sexually abusing. With her head sunk towards her knees, her emotions are obscured, inviting the viewer to contemplate both the workings of her mind and Gill’s tarnished legacy.
Perhaps the words of a young, female visitor in the exhibition’s comment box best sum up this show. The childish, over sized scrawl reads: “I find the works of art are meaningful, skary (sic), sad and angry.” Gill’s artistry is impossible to ignore, yet so is the rather chilling aura that surrounds it.
