Leo Bensemann

Leo Bensemann was well-known in Canterbury’s art and publishing fields from the 1930s to his death in 1986. Bensemann was a central figure in the artist collective known as The Group and was involved with Caxton Press for over forty years, retiring from Caxton 1978 he had already established Huntsbury Press which he operated from his home. His contribution to Caxton Press included as a printer, Illustrator, designer and typographer. With The Group, Bensemann exhibited his work in all but four of their exhibitions between 1940 and 1977. Among the material he exhibited were a number of his bookplates, designed for friends and family. The 1940 Group exhibition catalogue lists two of his bookplates designed for his second cousin, Rey Byrne and for M.B. being Elsie Mary Barrett, whom he married in 1943. Bensemann's bookplates show a style which has been described as being arresting and unusual imagery. In creating his bookplates, of which he produced over twenty, Bensemann drew inspiration from literature, legend, folk stories as well as his own imagination.

Along with the bookplates found within the works held at the Macmillan Brown Library there is a Bensemann bookplate design held in the University of Canterbury Art Collection.