Eric Gill in London 

Meaning for a while to write about Eric Gill and his work in London, I was spurred on to finally get on and finish this post by reports in the press a few weeks ago of a protester taking an axe to ‘offending’ sculptures at the BBC headquarters in Marylebone. Gill the man’s reputation was actually shredded long before the current hoo-ha, but his work is always worth a closer look.

Eric Gill 1882-1940

Much has been written about Eric Gill’s deviant private life, his aberrant sexual behaviour (including incest with his own daughters and possibly the dog too), but there is no denying that he was a consummate letter-carver, draughtsman and decorative artist, and a key figure in the Arts & Crafts movement.   

Gill started out training as an architect, coming to London for that purpose in 1900, but was soon frustrated and so began evening classes in stonemasonry and later calligraphy, enrolling on a course at the Central School of Arts and Crafts run by Edward Johnston, creator of the London Underground typeface and later a strong influence on Gill.  During 1903, Gill gave up architecture completely to become a calligrapher, letter-cutter and monumental mason. WH Smith & Son employed him to paint the lettering on the fascias of several of their bookshops, including their Paris store.

Late in 1909 Gill decided to become a sculptor. He collaborated often with Jacob Epstein, generally acknowledged now to be much the more skilled at this art. Early in 1910 the pair discussed with other artists, including Augustus John and Ambrose McEvoy, the formation of a quasi-religious brotherhood uniting artists, craft workers and priests.

By 1912, Gill's main source of income was tombstone inscriptions. He had also carved a number of Madonna figures and was widely, wrongly, assumed to be a Catholic artist. As such he was invited to an exhibition in Brussels of Catholic art and, on route, stayed for some days at the Benedictine monastery near Leuven. Gill's experiences at Leuven, seeing the monks at prayer and hearing plainsong for the first time convinced him to become a Roman Catholic and he and his wife were received into the Catholic Church. (He had married Ethel Hester Moore in 1904 and they would eventually have three daughters - Elizabeth, Petra, and Joanna - and foster a son, Gordian).

By the 1930s, Eric Gill was much lauded and the RSA made him a Royal Designer for Industry, the highest accolade for British designers - still awarded annually today. He went on to become a founder member of the RSA's Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry when it was established in 1938. In April 1937, Gill was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Academy.

Station 9 Westminster Cathedral

Gill sealed his reputation early with marblework and bas-reliefs in Westminster Cathedral depicting the 14 Stations of the Cross. Gill was just thirty-two when in April 1914 he produced his design (now in the British Museum) for the Stations. This design was approved the following month. The fourteen panels, each 5ft 8in square, were to be carved in low relief in Hopton Wood limestone for the very low price of £765. At this time Gill was almost unknown as a sculptor and extremely anxious to get such an important commission - hence the price. Once commissioned he set to work at once, producing the Tenth Station (Christ is stripped of his garments), for which he used himself as a model, and the Second (Christ receives the Cross) by November 1914. Then followed the Thirteenth (Christ is taken down from the Cross) and the First (Christ is condemned to death) by June 1915, the panels being carved in the studio with the final touches being added by Gill in the cathedral.

By June 1915 the first four Stations were on view and almost immediately provoked widespread comment, described on the one hand as 'grotesque and undevotional', ‘hideous, primitive and pagan’. On the other hand they were seen as 'dignified in conception, superb in outline and restrained in feeling' and as showing 'admirable breadth and simplicity of design'.

 

Moorfields Hospital entrance

Other famous Gill creations across London include this small sculpture which stands over the entrance to the 1933 extension to the famous Moorfields Eye Hospital in Finsbury. It represents the story of the blind man Bartimaeus, who was begging by the side of the road from Jericho as Jesus passed by. In the sculpture, Jesus stands over Bartimaeus with his fingers touching his eyes. In the Gospel story, he asks "What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?", to which the blind man said "Domine, ut videam (Lord, that I might receive my sight)."

 

 

Another of my favourite Gill works (from 1937) is the set of seven bas-reliefs decorating the Portland stone facade of the People’s Palace in Mile End (now the Great Hall of Queen Mary University of London). Two are above the doorways, each showing a languid figure representing Recreation, and five others representing Drama, Music, Fellowship, Dance and Sport.

 

People's Palace, Mile End

But probably the best-known Gill sculptures are those found at these last two sites. 

55 Broadway

 55 Broadway, St James’s  is the historic headquarters of London   Underground, built between 1927 and 1929 by Charles Holden and   encompassing St. James’s Park station. The building features a   series of facade sculptures by leading artists of the day. Gill   contributed three of the eight reliefs on the theme of winds.

The North Wind

 

  

And so to the subject of recent controversy, Gill’s very prominent sculptures on BBC Broadcasting House in

55 Broadway

Marylebone. The central work over the building’s front entrance portrays a 10ft tall, long-bearded Prospero, standing atop a globe and in the process of sending the spirit Ariel out into the world (hence the link with broadcasting). Ariel’s nudity immediately provoked comment and the local MP, who lived opposite, found the sculpture “objectionable to public morals and decency”. In response, Lord Reith is said to have ordered Gill to ‘amend’ his work, especially the penis.

Prospero and Ariel

The Sower

Inside the BBC building at the main reception there is a further Gill work: The Sower, a man broadcasting seed. The statue, made of English marble (Hopton Wood Stone) stands more than 2.6 metres tall and occupies a niche by the doors leading to the artists' lobby and studios.

 

 

In addition to his sculptural work, Eric Gill was also a consummate typographer.  One of his first independent lettering projects was creating an alphabet for WH Smith’s sign painters. In 1927-30 he was commissioned by the typographer Morison to design the Gill Sans typeface. In 1925, he designed the Perpetua , with the uppercase based upon monumental Roman inscriptions, and in 1930-31 he created Joanna which he used to hand-set his classic book ‘An Essay on Typography’.

 

Now one of the most widely used British typefaces, Gill Sans was used in the classic design system of Penguin Books and by the London and North Eastern Railway and later British Railways, with many additional styles created by Monotype both during and after Gill's lifetime. In the 1990s, the BBC adopted Gill Sans for its wordmark and many of its on-screen television graphics.

References:

The London Encyclopedia Ben Weinreb et al. (2008)

Hidden Treasures of London Michael McNay (2015)

Website: https://www.westminstercathedral.org.uk/tour_stations.php

Website: https://art.tfl.gov.uk/projects/broadway-house/