author
Robert Austin
1895–1973
Best known as Robert Sargent Austin, he was a gifted British printmaker, illustrator, and designer whose careful line work made him one of the leading engravers of his time. His career ranged from book illustration and teaching to wartime art and even the design of British banknotes.
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About the author
Born in Leicester in 1895, Robert Sargent Austin studied at the Leicester School of Art and later at the Royal College of Art. After service in the First World War, he returned to his training and went on to build a reputation as an accomplished engraver, etcher, watercolorist, and illustrator.
Austin became closely associated with the Royal College of Art, where he taught engraving and later served as a professor. His work was admired for its precision and elegance, and he was also appointed an official war artist during the Second World War, recording service life and medical work with the same sharp observational style.
Later in his career, he advised the Bank of England and designed the ten-shilling and one-pound notes issued in the early 1960s. Although he is chiefly remembered as a visual artist rather than a literary figure, his illustrations and collaborations with books helped bring his art to a wide audience.