Norman Ackroyd

Norman Ackroyd CBERA
Born	(1938-03-26)26 March 1938 Leeds,England
Nationality	British
Education	Leeds College of Art(1956–61) Royal College of Art(1961–64)
Occupation	Artist
Known for	Etching Printmaking
Children	Poppy Ackroyd
Website	www.normanackroyd

Norman AckroydCBERA(born 26 March 1938)is an English artist known primarily for hisaquatintwork. He lives and is based inBermondsey,London.

Background

Ackroyd was born on 26 March 1938 inLeeds,Yorkshire. He attendedLeeds College of Artfrom 1957 to 1961 and theRoyal College of Art,London, from 1961 to 1964,where he studied underJulian Trevelyan.Subsequently, he lived for several years in the United States. He was elected to theRoyal Academy of Artin 1988and appointed Professor of Etching, University of the Arts, in 1994. He was elected Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art in 2000, and in 2007 was made CBE for services to Engraving and Printing.

His daughterPoppy Ackroydis a composer and musician.

Work

In the 1980s Ackroyd emerged as a landscape artist.Central Saint Martins College of Art and Designmounted a retrospective exhibition of these works in 2006 and kept an archive of his work. His works range from minimalist, nearly abstract impressions, to detailed images. His work almost never includes the human figure, the landscape subjects are often of old human habitation. His prints range from tiny etchings intended to be bound into books to huge etchings. His preferred medium for working directly on paper is watercolour, including a recent project pairing his watercolors with poems byKevin Crossley-Holland,published under the titleMoored Man.He has also designed a number of large-scale, etched reliefs in steel or bronze commissioned for architectural projects in London, Moscow,Birmingham,andGlasgow. Recently completed projects include a mural at theSainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University,showing scenes from theGalapagos,and a door atGreat Portland Estatesin London, W1. See also published works such asThe Stratton Street Series(introduction byIan Ritchie).

WithDouglas Dunn,he has recently publishedA Line in the Water;the book was designed by Isambard Thomas. Ackroyd's working methods are described in an issue ofArchipelago(No. III, Spring 2009).

Ackroyd's work can be found in several British and American galleries including the Zillah Bell Gallery (which holds the largest collection of his work in the North of England), theTate,theBritish Museum,and theNational Gallery of Art, Washington.He has been in several television programmes, includingBBCdocumentaries in 1980, 2006, andWhat Do Artists Do All Day?(2013).

External links

• Official website
• 4 artworks by or after Norman Ackroydat theArt UKsite
• Sainsbury Laboratory building projectinfo
• Norman Ackroyd,portraits at theNational Portrait Gallery
• Norman Ackroydon Frank Brangwyn's press.