The Art of British Printmaking

As part of a series of articles on artists in the Rye Art Gallery’s permanent collection, this week we look at the life and work of the painter, printmaker and linocut maker and designer, Margaret Barnard who lived in Rye from 1934 until her death in 1992.

Margaret Helen Barnard was born in 1898 in India where her father served in the Indian police force. At the age of 7 she was sent to school in England, first in Bath and then to Scotland. She went on to study at the Glasgow School of Art from 1917-1923 where she met her husband Robert Sang Mackechnie.

After graduating, Barnard moved to London to study at the Grosvenor School of Modern Art where she was taught, along with the printmakers Cyril Power and Sybil Andrews, by Claude Flight, who championed the use of linocut. Flight was influenced by the futurists and vorticists with their interest in showing speed and movement through simple, bold lines and geometric forms and flat colour, and this can be seen in the work of his pupils.

Barnard and Mackechnie married in Italy in 1924 and lived there before returning to London and then moving to Rye in 1934. As well as printmaking, Barnard painted the landscapes of Italy, to which the couple returned regularly throughout their lives, and the rocky landscapes of the west coast of Scotland.

Robert Mackechnie joined the British art group the Seven and Five Society along with Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, John Piper and Ivon Hitchens.

In 1938 and 1939 Margaret Barnard was commissioned to produce posters for London Underground to include Leisure Days in the Parks, and Winter Cavalcade.

During the second world war, Barnard drove an ambulance and on one occasion drove to Rye Harbour (which was covered in mines) to rescue a Luftwaffe pilot who had been shot down during the Battle of Britain. Unfortunately, he had not survived but she brought his body back.

After the war she continued to paint and exhibited at the Royal Academy. The couple lived in Rye, returning to their house in Positano in Italy in the winter months.

After her husband’s death in 1975, Margaret Barnard regularly visited Rye Art Gallery and was involved in the trust and friends for many years. In 1990 she made a bequest to the gallery of her own works and her husband’s as well as pictures from their collection including prints by Whistler and Piranesi.

Margaret Barnard’s prints can be seen in the current exhibition at the Rye Art Gallery ‘The Art of British Printmaking’ that features new work by local artists along with many other works from the permanent collection including prints by Norman Ackroyd, Frank Short, Eric Gill, Eric Ravilious, John Piper, Edward Burra, Paul Nash amongst others. The exhibition runs until June 16.

Rye Art Gallery, 107 High Street, Rye, TN31 7JE. Tel: 01797 222433

Opening hours – Monday-Saturday 11am-5pm, Sunday 11am-4pm, closed Tuesday

Image Credits: Rye Art Gallery Permanent Collection .