Valerie Thornton, RE (1931-1991) was a well-known etcher, and painter too, especially note for her architectural subjects. She was born in London and due to World War II she and her brothers were evacuated to Canada where they stayed until 1943. Thornton studied art at the Byam Shaw School of Drawing and Painting in Kensington 1949-50 and then from 1950-53 she continued her studies at the Regent Street Polytechnic where she received a National Diploma of Design. She went on to study under S. W. Hayter at Atelier 17 in Paris in 1954. Valerie Thornton exhibited with the Zwemmer Gallery in London in the 1950s and later married the gallery’s director, Michael Chase, who was also an artist. She was a founder member of the Printmakers Council in 1965 and was elected an associate of the Royal Society of Painter Etchers in 1969 and a full member (RE) in 1970. Thornton exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1965. Her work is held in a number of public collections including The Tate Gallery; The British Museum; The Victoria & Albert Museum; Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge; The Ashmolean, Oxford; Jerwood Collection; Beecroft Art Gallery; The Metropolitan Museum, New York; and The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. She lived at Chelsworth in Suffolk for many years.