DESMET, Anne RA RE, b. 1964 ~ Temple of Vesta.
Original wood engraving. Edition of 20, numbered, titled and signed in pencil by the artist. Image size 100 x 100 mm. Paper size 180 x 178 mm.
After graduating in 1989 Anne Desmet spent a year on the British School in Rome’s Scholarship in Printing. This engraving of the oldest surviving marble building in Rome (also known as the Temple of Hercules Victor) shows beautifully Desmet’s continued exploration of the light in Italy’s effect on tonal contrast and dramatic shadows of Roman architecture.
Desmet was born and brought up in Liverpool and gained her BFA and MA in Fine Art from Oxford and a Postgraduate Diploma in Printmaking from Central School of Art and Design. In 2011 she became the third wood engraver to be elected as a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in its 250 year history. Desmet’s works are in numerous public and private collections across the World including the Ashmolean Museum and the Whitworth Art Gallery. She has completed several important commissions including pieces for the British Museum, National Gallery, British Library, V & A, Bailliol and Worcester Colleges, Oxford, the Royal Mint and Dulwich College. She has had over 30 solo shows to date including three major retrospectives at the Ashmolean, the Whitworth and the Ex Libris Museum in Moscow.
Desmet is engaged with the evolution of the urban landscape and its testimony to the aspirations and experiences of humanity. Her work ranges from small scale, detailed examinations to sweeping, often fantastical, panoramas.