Biographies

Sydney Lee (1866 – 1949) The information below comes from the biographical sketch of Lee written by Robert Meyrick, Senior Lecturer and Keeper of Art at the University of Wales, for Allan Wolman and published at . http://www.wolman-prints.com/pages/artistbiog/all/l/598.html Lee studied at Manchester School of Art and afterwards worked at the Atelier Colorossi in Paris. He first exhibited with the New English Art Club in 1903 and regularly at the Royal Academy from 1905, where he was elected Associate in 1922 and a Member in 1930. He served as Treasurer from 1932 to 1940, and in the elections of December 1938 to become its President he was defeated by a narrow majority of two votes in favour of Sir Edwin Lutyens. He was married to the daughter of Edward Elgar and lived in Holland Park Road, Kensington, from 1909.Lee was a seminal force in the revival of wood engraving in Britain in the early years of the 20th century. In 1914 his wood engraving The Limestone Rock was described as among the best original wood engravings of its day. A keen exponent of the white-line technique, his unusually large wood engravings display a painterly attention to tone and texture. He was elected Associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers in 1905 and became a Fellow in 1915. He was also a founder member of the Society of Wood Engravers in 1920, an active member of the Society of Graver-Printers in Colour, and a member of the Council of Art and Industry. At Central he taught the first wood engraving classes to be offered by a London art school.