Cyril Edward Power Paintings

Cyril Edward Power was an English artist best known for his work associated with the linocut movement of the 1920s and 1930s. He was born in London and initially trained as an architect, studying at the Royal University College of Liverpool. After completing his studies, he worked as an architect and later as a lecturer.

During World War I, Power served in the Royal Flying Corps where his duties included designing camouflage for airfields. His experiences during the war had a profound impact on his artistic vision. After the war, he returned to London and began to focus more on his artistic career.

In the early 1920s, Power became deeply involved with the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in London, which played a pivotal role in promoting modernist approaches to printmaking, particularly the linocut technique. Power, alongside his contemporaries such as Sybil Andrews, became a leading figure in the British linocut movement. His work from this period is characterized by dynamic compositions, vibrant colors, and rhythmic patterns that often depicted the speed and movement of modern life.

Power's style was heavily influenced by futurism and vorticism, as well as by his interest in the dynamism of the machine age. He often chose subjects that reflected the energy of contemporary urban life, such as London Underground escalators, rowing races, and sports events.

Throughout the 1930s, Cyril Power continued to produce linocuts and also worked in other media, including watercolor and oil painting. However, the outbreak of World War II marked a decline in his artistic output. Post-war Britain saw a shift in artistic tastes, and Power's work, like that of many of his contemporaries, fell out of favor.

Despite this, Cyril Edward Power remains an important figure in the history of 20th-century British printmaking. His work has been the subject of renewed interest in recent years, and his prints are now highly valued for their contribution to the modernist movement in art. Power passed away in 1951, leaving behind a legacy of innovation and artistic exploration in the field of printmaking.