Anne Desmet

Anne Desmet was born in Liverpool. Her mother was the eminent English paediatric and neonatal surgeon Irene Marion Desmet FRCS (née Irving; 25 March 1928 – 5 March 2020). Her father was Flemish-Belgian hotelier Louis Henry Marie Joseph Desmet (8 November 1904, Belgium – 14 Jul 1973, England), formerly an oyster farmer in Belgium. Desmet was born with congenital hip dysplasia, resulting in an approximate total of five years hospitalisation during childhood, recovering from orthopaedic surgeries. Desmet studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, University of Oxford and the Central School of Art and Design. She obtained a master's degree and subsequently, a postgraduate diploma in printmaking. She was awarded a scholarship at the British School at Rome in 1989, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers and a member of the Society of Wood Engravers.

Desmet became a lecturer at the Royal Academy Schools, Ruskin School, Middlesex University and Leeds Polytechnic. Desmet is also a former external examiner in fine art. Desmet is curator of Scene through Wood - a Century of Wood Engraving, Ashmolean Museum and touring 2020. Desmet was elected as a Royal Academician on 26 May 2011. She is an Honorary Member of the Printmakers Council.

• Anne Desmet RA: A Greek Journey, Long & Ryle Gallery, London (2019) • Anne Desmet RA: An Italian Journey, Gainsborough’s House Museum, Sudbury (2018) • Anne Desmet RA – Towards the Light, Long & Ryle Gallery, London (2018) • Anne Desmet RA: Under Changing Skies, Holburne Museum, Bath (2017) • Anne Desmet RA – An Italian Journey, Royal Overseas League, London (2016) • Anne Desmet RA, Eton College, Berkshire (2016) • Anne Desmet RA – Time Sequences, Long & Ryle Gallery, London (2015) • Anne Desmet – Urban Echoes, Wirral Festival of Firsts, Hoylake (2015) • Anne Desmet – Sky Lines, Aldeburgh Lookout, Aldeburgh, Suffolk (2013) • Anne Desmet – Olympic Metamorphoses (touring), Pitzhanger Manor Gallery, London; Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate; Bluecoat Arts, Liverpool; Editions Ltd, Liverpool; RA Library, London (2012) • Anne Desmet RA – Fragments of Time, Hart Gallery, London (2012)

Desmet uses collage and print to depict the built environment. She is engaged with the evolution of the urban landscape and its testimony to the aspirations and experiences of humanity. Her abiding subjects are Italy, London and the Babel Tower. She uses the traditional printmaking techniques of wood engraving and lino-cutting but draws on a variety of materials to create distinctive layered collages. Her work ranges from small scale, detailed examinations to sweeping, often fantastical, panoramas viewed from a bird’s eye perspective.

Anne Desmet is recorded as engraver, graphic artist, draftsperson and lithographer.