Dorothy Woollard (1886–1986)

A noted etcher of topographical scenes between 1910 and 1930, producing some 200 plates. Born Clifton, Bristol, starting her art training at the Bristol School of Art. In 1913 she won a British Institution scholarship to the RCA Etching School, where she became a pupil of Frank Short. She was elected an Associate Member of the RE in 1916, and a Fellow in 1925. Best known for her etchings of historic buildings and street scenes in Bristol, London, and other locations in England and northern Europe. She exhibited regularly at the RA, RE, RWA and other UK venues, and occasionally in the USA. Contributed a miniature etching for the Queen Mary Dolls House at Windsor Castle; and six books of her pencil drawings were published by A&C Black. Wollard effectively stopped etching in the early 1930s following the collapse in demand for original etchings, but continued sketching for pleasure into her later years. She lived in Bloomsbury from 1913 until 1972, and died in Cambridge in October 1986.

Biographical notes by Roger Staton (Dec. 2008), author of ‘Dorothy Woollard and the etching revival’, The Pegasus Press Ltd, 2008.
More about Dorothy Woollard at www.dorothywoollard.com

Both in terms of the sheer number of etchings she produced and in the quality of her work, Dorothy Woollard was a more important etcher than has generally been recognised, and it is quite fitting that, in recent years, she is being re-assessed and interest in her work is growing. Once rated in 1941 by The Times newspaper as being on a par with that fine Scottish etcher, Sir David Young Cameron, `Dorothy Woollard R. E. (1886-1986) exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, the RE (Royal Society of Painter Etchers), the Royal West of England Academy and other venues, and her work was reproduced in the important art magazines and reference works of the day. A major player in a buoyant market for original etchings, Woollard was a graduate of the Etching School at the Royal College of Art in London, under Sir Frank Short. The Victoria & Albert Museum has, since 1916, held an important collection of her etchings and The British Museum has a small collection of her work. Her home city was Bristol and the Museum and Art Gallery there has a large collection of her work.