Eric Hebborn: Preciosa and the Wind

Forgery Interest

Eric Hebborn was a skilful artist who turned to a lucrative career in forgery at the earliest opportunity. Born into a family of many siblings, he was soon removed into borstal at the tender age of 8 for burning down his school. His talent for painting was spotted by his teachers though, and he made his way, via Chelmsford and Walthamstow art schools, to study at the Royal Academy Schools. He won many prizes at the Academy, including the prized Rome Scholarship in Engraving in 1959. His two year study at the British School at Rome, where he met senior art world figures such as Sir Anthony Blunt, established the already prodigious talent which he would only ever use to nefarious ends.

Artist
Eric Hebborn
Title
Preciosa and the Wind
Title Note
An illustration to a poem by Frederico Garcia Lorca
Medium
Wood engraving
Date
1961
Edition
Only a few private impressions of this engraving were ever taken, this example is believed to be the only surviving copy
Inscriptions
Signed and titled by the artist in pencil
Image
8.0 x 13.3 cms
Sheet
16.0 x 22.0 cms approx. (not recorded out of frame)
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner
Literature
Eric Hebborn, Drawn to Trouble, London, 1991, illus. p.199, Fig. 42
Notes
Framed
Reference
CC12-23