Wood Engraving

ANNE DESMET RA is a professional artist and experienced wood engraving teacher whose works have won over 40 international awards and feature in public and private collections worldwide. Over 50 solo shows include museum exhibitions in Britain at the Ashmolean, Whitworth, Holburne, Gainsborough’s House, Pallant House, Guildhall Art Gallery and, internationally, in Russia, Brazil, Italy and The Netherlands where she is considered ‘the British Escher’. Commissions include engravings for the British Museum, National Gallery, British Library, V&A, Sotheby’s and Royal Mint. Desmet is only the third wood engraver ever elected to the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) and curated an exhibition celebrating 100 years of modern wood engraving for the Ashmolean (2020). She has written seven books on printmaking and drawing and was editor of Printmaking Today from 1998–2013. In 2018 she was elected Honorary Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford University, for ‘distinction in the world of art’. She lives and works in London.