# Claire Leighton artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/claire-leighton/
Profile generated: 2026-05-16T22:35:11.238Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1898-04-12
- Death date: 1989-11-04
- Nationality: British, American
- Common media: wood engraving, printmaking, book illustration

## About Claire Leighton

Clare Leighton (1898–1989) was an English-born American artist, writer, and illustrator best known for her wood engravings. Born Clare Marie Veronica Leighton in London, she developed a reputation for powerful wood-engraved images of rural life, agricultural labor, and landscape. She emigrated to the United States in the 1930s and became an American citizen, eventually settling in Connecticut. Over a long career she produced hundreds of wood engravings, illustrated numerous books, and authored several volumes combining her own text and images. Her work is held in major public collections, and she is recognized as one of the principal wood engravers of the twentieth century in both Britain and America. Collectors encounter her prints at auction with regularity, and her illustrated books remain sought after by print and book collectors alike.

## Common works and media

Wood engravings are the most common medium encountered at auction and include single-sheet prints, portfolio sets, and illustrations produced for limited-edition books. Leighton also produced woodcuts, drawings, and paintings. Her published books—such as those on rural life in England and America—contain original wood-engraved plates and are collected as standalone works. Posters, greeting cards, and commercial illustrations based on her designs also circulate in the secondary market.

## Market and appraisal context

Clare Leighton's wood engravings appear frequently at auction, reflecting a large and varied body of work produced across six decades. Value depends on the specific image, edition, impression quality, signature, and whether the print was issued as a standalone proof or as a book illustration. Larger and more iconic compositions tend to command stronger results. Illustrated books authored and illustrated by Leighton form a distinct collectible category. Condition, provenance, and the completeness of any portfolio or book set are important factors in appraisal. Consulting comparable realized prices from major auction houses provides the most reliable market guidance.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from museum, library authority, and biographical sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Clare Leighton, identity data is grounded in the Getty ULAN, VIAF, RKD, and Wikidata authority files, supplemented by biographical reference sources.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5126195
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_Leighton
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500109845
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/92786680/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50048327
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/106613