Peter Forster (wood engraver)

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Peter Forster
Born1934
Fulham, London
Died2021
NationalityEnglish
Known forWood engraver

Peter Forster (1934 – 2021) was an English wood engraver, artist and printmaker, making illustrations for The Folio Society, The Times, The Observer and Saatchi & Saatchi, together with a number of other publications.[1][2] He was one of the first wood engravers to use colour in his printmaking.[3][4] In 2005 he was asked by The Royal Mint to design the £2 coin to recognise the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot.[5]

Early life

Forster was born in Fulham in 1934, the son of Harold Forster, who served in the Royal Air Force, and Mabel (née Fairy).[1][2] He was educated at Bedford Modern School, the Luton School of Art and at the Ruskin School of Art.[1][2] For his National Service, he followed his father into the Royal Air Force.[1][2]

Career

Following National Service, he taught at Bedford School for one year, but left as teaching was not a profession for him.[1][2] Forster then pursued a career as a book illustrator on a freelance basis before taking up employment in the graphic design studio at the Department of the Environment in 1964 with the task of designing guide books.[1] He considered that 'he'd sold his soul' and left in 1985 to continue work as a wood engraver in a private capacity.[6] In particular he aligned his love of literature and art working with the Folio Society.[1] He illustrated seven complete Folio Society volumes including works by Chaucer, Shakespeare,[7] Jane Austen and George Eliot, among others.[4]

Forster was a friend of Merlin Holland, the grandson of Oscar Wilde.[1] His interest in Wilde led him to illustrate Wilde's De Profundis,[8] on behalf of the Folio Society, and he also made illustrations for The Ballad of Reading Gaol, again for the Folio Society.[4] He also made a series of colour prints entitled A New Temple of British Worthies including prints of Florence Nightingale, Charles I, and Jane Austen and later a collection of engravings presenting the royal family as mythical creatures.[1][9]

In 2005 he was asked by The Royal Mint to design the £2 coin to recognise the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot.[5]

Private life

In 2006, Forster entered into a civil partnership with Hugh White.[1][2] Forster stated that: “I do not believe in the life to come but opening the south door of a village church and stepping down into the cool, whitewashed interior is one of the sweetest things in life, a sensation unchanged since schooldays; the experience of life that was.”[10]

Selected publications

  • Forster, Peter (1986). A publicity vignette : Peter Forster, wood engraver. OCLC 221498576.[11]
  • Forster, Peter (1986). The abdication : a quinquagenarian retrospection. OCLC 21461659.[12]
  • Forster, Peter (1983). Britannic majesty : a set of woodengravings. OCLC 12854495.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Obituary in The Guardian, Peter Forster, 31 March 2021
  2. ^ a b c d e f White, Hugh (31 March 2021). "Peter Forster obituary". the Guardian.
  3. ^ "Tribute to Peter Forster". Tribute to Peter Forster.
  4. ^ a b c "The Folio Life: Peter Forster (1934–2021)".
  5. ^ a b "£2 Coin Designs and Specifications | The Royal Mint". www.royalmint.com.
  6. ^ Website of Peter Forster
  7. ^ "Shakespeare Quarterly". Folger Shakespeare Library. 29 November 2001 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ "Collection: Merlin Holland collection of Peter Forster's De Profundis color woodblock prints, approximately 1991-2011 | The University of Tulsa Archival Catalog". utulsa.as.atlas-sys.com.
  9. ^ "Foster (Peter) - Satirical wood engravings of the Royal family". www.collingeandclark.co.uk.
  10. ^ Portrait of the Wood Engraver in Middle Age, Essay by Peter Forster
  11. ^ A publicity vignette: Peter Forster, wood engraver. Malaprop Press. 27 November 1986. OCLC 221498576 – via Open WorldCat.
  12. ^ The abdication: a quinquagenarian retrospection. Malaprop Press. 27 November 1986. OCLC 21461659 – via Open WorldCat.
  13. ^ Britannic majesty: a set of woodengravings. Libanus Press. 27 November 1983. OCLC 12854495 – via Open WorldCat.