Hombres Sentado (Seated Men), c. 1960
by Nora Unwin (1907-1982)
acrylic on paper, archival framing
21"high x 27.5" wide framed
*This painting is framed with an archival linen mat and rustic mid century wood frame (refer to the added frame photo for detail).
Known for her contribution to more than 100 books by other authors, most of them aimed at young audiences, and wrote and illustrated twelve of her own. Unwin is also celebrated as one of the key figures in the twentieth-century renaissance of wood engraving. Her engravings continue to be represented in major museum collections including the Smithsonian Institution, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the National Gallery.
Born in a London suburb in 1907, Nora Spicer Unwin grew up in a family closely connected with books. Since the early nineteenth century the Unwins had been involved in publishing and printing, founding three different firms and becoming one of the preeminent names in the book world by the 1950s.
Unwin received her diploma in design in 1932 from the Kingston School of Art and the Royal College of Art. In eight years of specialized training Unwin explored pottery, wood carving, embroidery, bookbinding, mural decoration, engraving, etching, and architecture, and book illustration.
In 1955, she traveled and studied in Mexico, documenting the poverty she witnessed there in her woodcuts and paintings, and finding inspiration for her children’s book Poquito: The Little Mexican Duck.
Upon her return from Mexico, Unwin moved to Wellesley, Massachusetts to be closer to Boston. Tiring of the pace of the city, Unwin moved to the New Hampshire countryside in 1962. Unwin remained in New Hampshire teaching, exhibiting her art, and illustrating books until her death in 1982.
