Leonard Beaumont (1891–1986) was a prolific artist and designer, whose work has rarely received the attention it deserves.

Beaumont started his career at the Sheffield Daily Telegraph and attended evening classes at Sheffield School of Art. He began making prints in the 1920s, specialising in bold lino cuts and etchings influenced by the Vorticists.

Beaumont was a highly successful commercial designer, working for the likes of United Artists and the GPO as well as creating the early brand identity for Sainsbury's. His artistic practice was equally prolific, yet his remarkable prints remained somewhat overshadowed by the work of his contemporaries, such as Cyril Power and Sybil Andrews.

 

Shortly before his death, Beaumont donated over 80 of his works to his home city. Focusing on his prints from the 1920s and 30s, this show highlights the dynamism of the period. The majority of these pictures have not been seen for almost thirty years and it is with great pleasure that we re-visit the work of this neglected son of the city.

'A shadowy figure who left little clue about what compelled him, after busy days in a newspaper office, to spend his evenings making art'
  The Guardian

Read a recent posting on our blog about the research behind the exhibition here

To read an interview with Leonard Beaumont in the Sheffield Star, in which he talks about his gift to Sheffield three years before his death in 1986 click here