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1912 - 1990
An engraver, born in Margate, Kent. He lived near the coast during his early life and the sea and the sea-shore were to remain an important source of inspiration throughout his life. Trained at Thanet School of Art (1929-33) and the Royal College of Art (1933-37) where he was taught by Robert Austin, John Nash, Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden. Wales became particularly interested in wood engraving, which was the medium he used for illustrations commissioned for the Golden Cockerel Press and the Folio Society, as well as in more general graphic work. He became one of the finest wood-engravers in post-war Britain in a style developing towards abstract imagery. He spoke of his later prints as ‘visual metaphors’ rather than representations of the visual world.
1948 – Elected member of the Royal society of Painter Etchers and Engravers. Became a Fellow in 1961.
1953 – Joined the staff at Norwich School of Art, where he remained until his retirement in 1977. Wood engravings by Geoffrey Wales are included in the print collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Ahmolean Museum, Oxford, and the Castle Museum, Norwich.
Exhibitions Include:
Society of Wood Engravers; Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers