Gill, Eric (1882-1940), was a leading British sculptor, engraver, and typographic designer. He won worldwide fame for his typeface designs, such as Gill Sans Serif and Perpetua.
Gill revived in the United Kingdom the practice of carving directly in stone instead of copying from a preliminary clay model. His Stations of the Cross, 14 reliefs in stone (1914-1918), can be seen in Westminster Cathedral in London. War memorials that he designed after World War I (1914-1918) stand in many parts of the United Kingdom. His sculpture Prospero and Ariel (1931), carved in Caen stone, is in the Tate Britain Gallery in London. Gill also produced more than 1,000 engravings, many as book illustrations.
Arthur Eric Rowton Gill was born on Feb. 22, 1882, in Brighton (now Brighton and Hove), Sussex, England. His family wanted him to become a clergyman, but at the age of 21, Gill turned to letter cutting and masonry. By 1906, he was working as an engraver. In 1907, Gill visited the Chartres Cathedral in France. The stone carvings on the cathedral influenced Gill throughout his career. Gill carved his first stone figure, The Madonna and Child, in 1910. He became a Roman Catholic in 1913, the same year in which he carved Stations of the Cross. His conversion inspired the Biblical themes that appear in some of his later sculpture. Gill wrote an Autobiography (1940). He died on Nov. 17, 1940.
