Paul Nash was one of the most individual British artists of his period, taking a distinguished place in the English tradition of deep attachment to the countryside whilst at the same time responding imaginatively to European modernism. He saw himself as a successor of William Blake and Turner.
After training at the Slade School he served in the First World War, was wounded, and worked as an Official War Artist, his work including some powerful views of the pitted and shattered landscape of No Man's Land that rank among the most memorable images of the conflict.
Although his later career was varied and distinguished, many critics feel that his First World War paintings mark the summit of his achievement. In the 1920s and particularly in the 1930s he was influenced by Surrealism (above all by Giorgio de Chirico, an exhibition of whose work he saw in London in 1928)
and often concentrated on mysterious aspects of the landscape.
For much of this time he lived in rural areas (Kent, Sussex, Dorset), basing his work on scenes he knew well but imaginatively transforming them. However, he continued to be involved in the London art world, and in 1933 he was the prime mover in the formation of Unit One; he also helped to organise and exhibited in the International Surrealist Exhibition in London in 1936. In the Second World War he was again an Official War Artist. He was already very sick with the asthmatic condition that killed him, but his war work included an acknowledged masterpiece, Totes Meer (Dead Sea), which portrays shot-down aircraft with their wings looking like undulating waves.
Nash was regarded as one of the finest book illustrators of his time; he also designed scenery, fabrics, and posters, and was a photographer and writer, his books including a guide to Dorset (1936). His brother John (1893–1977) was also a painter and illustrator, excelling in meticulous flower drawings for botanical publications. Like Paul he was an Official War Artist in both world wars.
This is part 4 of a 7 - part series on the works of Paul Nash:
c1930-31 Blue House on the Shore
oil on canvas 41.9 x 73.7 cm
Tate, London
c1930 Bouquet
oil on canvas 65 x 50 cm
William Evans Bequest, Bangor University, UK
c1930 Mirrored Hall with Convolvulus
oil on canvas 76 x 51 cm
c1930 Toulon Harbour
pencil, crayon and watercolour, squared for transfer 33 x 49.5 cm
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| 1931 Kinetic Feature oil on canvas 66 x 50.8 cm Tate, London |
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| 1931 Salome oil on canvas 76.2 x 50.8 cm Private Collection |
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| 1931 Whiteleaf Cross oil on canvas 53.7 x 76.1 cm The Whitworth, Manchester, UK |
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| 1931 Whiteleaf Cross pencil and watercolour 36.8 x 54.6 cm |
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| c1931-32 Tokens conté crayon 20.2 x 15.2 cm |
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| 1932 Easter Sunday pencil and watercolour on paper 37 x 54.5 cm Private Collection |
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| 1932 Liner watercolour on paper 55.5 x 72.5 cm H.M. Government Art Collection, UK |
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| 1932 Mansions of the Dead pencil and watercolour on paper 57.8 x 39.4 cm Tate, London |
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| 1932 River watercolour, bodycolour and pencil 38.1 x 55.9 cm |
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| 1932 Souvenir of Oxford pencil and watercolour 55.9 x 31.8 cm |
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| 1932 The Rye Marshes, East Sussex colour lithograph advertisement poster |
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| 1932 The Rye Marshes, East Sussex oil on canvas 58.8 x 100.3 cm Ferens Art Gallery, Kingston upon Hull, UK |
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| Front Cover |
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| Title Page |
1932-36 Harbour and Room
oil on canvas 91.4 x 71.1 cm
Tate, London
1932-42 Pillar and Moon
oil on canvas 50.8 x 76.2 cm
Tate, London
1933 Landscape Study
pencil and watercolour 25 x 36 cm
1934 Composition (Design for Today)
tempera on hardboard 12.8 x 8.9 cm
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK
1934 Event on the Downs
oil on canvas 51 x 61 cm
H.M. Government Art Collection, UK
1934 Landscape Composition (Objects in Relation)
tempera on hardboard 13 x 15.5 cm
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK
1934 Landscape of Bleached Objects
oil on canvas 62 x 74.7 cm
Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand
1934 Landscape of the Megaliths
oil on canvas 49.5 x 73 cm
British Council Collection, London
1934 Telecommunications
oil on canvas 52.3 x 64.8 cm
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK
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| 1934 View from a Window, Nice oil on board 63.5 x 46 cm Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford, UK |
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| 1934-37 Voyages of the Moon oil on canvas 71.1 x 54 cm Tate, London |
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| c1934 "Arizona" design plate by Burslem factory earthenware, enamel, glazed and painted 28 cm diameter |
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| before 1935 No.2, The Parade pencil and watercolour 28 x 39 cm |
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| 1935 Equivalents for the Megaliths oil on canvas 45.7 x 66 cm Tate, London |
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| 1935 Footballers Prefer Shell colour lithograph advertisement poster 76 x 114 cm |
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| 1935 Footballers Prefer Shell oil on canvas 52 x 97 cm National Trust, Upton House, UK on loan from the Shell Art Collection |
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| 1935 Mineral Objects oil on canvas 50.2 x 60.3 cm Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, CT |
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| 1935 British Industries Fair colour lithograph poster 25 x 33 cm |
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| 1935 Ship-rail pencil and watercolour 24.7 x 19.3 cm |
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| 1935 Waves pencil and wash 29.5 x 40 cm Private Collection |
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| 1935-36 Swanage, Low Tide pencil and watercolour 38.5 x 22.2 cm |
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| 1936 Encounter in the Afternoon oil on canvas 50.8 x 76.2 cm |
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| 1936 Landscape at Large paper, pine and shale on paper 26.2 x 37.7 cm Tate, London |
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| 1936 London Transport Poster "Come In to Play" colour lithograph 100 x 63 cm |
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| 1936 London Transport Poster "Come Out to Live" colour lithograph 100 x 63 cm |
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| 1936 Objects in a Field pencil, watercolour and gouache 57.2 x 35.5 cm |
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