Leon Underwood (1890-1975)

Leon Underwood (born George Claude Leon Underwood) (1890-1975) was a teacher, artist and writer. He is more well known for his interest in African art and sculpture, which influenced his own work, and which he wrote several books about.

He established the Brook Green School where he taught wood engraving and printing to some of Britains most talented printmakers, including Gertrude Hermes, Blair Hughes-stanton, Eileen Agar and Henry Moore. The school closed in 1938.

Leon Underwood established the English Wood-Engraving Society in 1925 in order to promote wood engraving as an art form. In 1926, Underwood was in the U.S. where Animalia was published.