Margaret Bruce Wells

Margaret Caroline Bruce Wells née Margaret Caroline Bruce (13 June 1909 – 4 December 1998) was a British artist known for her use of woodcut and linocut techniques.[1]

Margaret Bruce Wells
Born	Margaret Caroline Bruce (1909-06-13)13 June 1909 Murthly, Perthshire
Died	4 December 1998(1998-12-04) (aged 89) Sibton, England
Nationality	British
Education	Glasgow School of Art Art Institute of Chicago
Known for	Printmaking, painting
Spouse(s)	George Wells, m.1951

Biography

Although born in Murthly in Perthshire, Wells attended Queen Margaret School in Scarborough before returning to Scotland in 1928 to study at the Glasgow School of Art.[2] In 1933 she moved to London to study at the Leon Underwood's Brook Green School.[2][3] In 1935 Wells became his studio assistant and for a time lived in the Underwood's home.[2] Wells developed a passion for fishing and in 1935 produced two sets of prints on the subject, Fishing for Bleaks and Ells by Night which were well received.[4] During World War II, Wells served as an ambulance driver and in 1951 she married George Wells, a dermatologist. The couple lived in Chicago for several years during which time Wells studied at the city's Art Institute.[2]

During her career Wells exhibited at the Royal Academy and with the Society of Wood Engravers and became an honorary member of the latter in 1995.[2] She lived in Suffolk for the last two decades of her life and continued working until her death at Sibton.[1] Prints by Wells are held in the collections of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Hunt Institute of Botanicial Documentation at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh and in the British Government Art Collection.[2][4][5]

References

1. "Wells, Margaret Bruce". Suffolk Artists. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
2. David Buckman (2006). Artists in Britain Since 1945 Vol 2, M to Z. Art Dictionaries Ltd. ISBN 0 953260 95 X.
3. Alan Horne (1994). The Dictionary of 20th Century British Book Illustrators. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 1 85149 1082.
4. Robin Garton (1992). British Printmakers 1855-1955 A Century of Printmaking from the Etching Revival to St Ives. Garton & Co / Scolar Press. ISBN 0 85967 968 3.
5. "The Collection: The Thrush's Song". Government Art Collection. Retrieved 28 March 2019.

Further reading

• Margaret Bruce Wells. The complete wood-engravings and lino-cuts by Jeremy Greenwood and Maggi McLune, Wood Lea Press, 2000.