Robin Tanner

Robin Tanner, the son of a carpenter/joiner, studied teaching at Goldsmiths’ College, University of London.  When he was 19 years old, he visited the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers and was moved by the work of F.L. Griggs.  From that time forward he worked as a teacher by day but studied drawing and etching at Goldsmiths’ College in the evenings.  About four years later he became a full-time art student and soon thereafter began to etch full time, working at his parents’ home.  Unfortunately, because of the 1929 Great Depression, the overseas art market collapsed and Tanner returned to work as a teacher. Five years later he was appointed H.M. Inspector of Schools, and that was his full-time occupation for the next thirty years.  Tanner returned to etching a few years after retiring, he began etching again after an absence of some 24 years.  He quickly made up for lost time, establishing a strong reputation and a powerful personal style.