Eric Ravilious: Landscapes and Nature

Ella Ravilious

ISBN 10: 0500480788 / ISBN 13: 9780500480786

Published by Thames and Hudson Ltd, GB, 2023

About this Item

A joyful and celebratory gift book devoted to the work of the much-loved English artist Eric Ravilious (1903-1942) and the influence of natural forms and themes in his work. Eric Ravilious was a designer, painter, printmaker and illustrator best known for his depictions of the English landscape, particularly the South Downs. Often described as a particularly 'English' artist, key to his style was an ability to convey in watercolour the mild vagaries of the British climate. His engagement with nature, though romantic rather than precise, pervades his works in many different techniques. This book explores his appreciation of the natural world and the techniques he used in a variety of media to convey those elements. Drawing on the VandA's collections, more than 100 beautiful images capture Ravilious's deep enjoyment of everything in nature, from dewponds, cockerels, grassy hills, owls, greenhouse geraniums, cornsheaves and snow, to the rainy seas, airport-runway puddles and tideswept beaches of his later work as a war artist. The book includes sections on weather, plants, landscape, animals and birds, and ends with a section devoted to man in the landscape, showcasing Ravilious's love of rusting machinery and other signs of human presence within nature, not least his famous depictions of hillside chalk figures. This book will appeal to those with a love of English landscapes, flora and fauna or an interest in British art and design in the interwar period.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780500480786

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Eric Ravilious: Landscapes and Nature
• Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd, GB
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0500480788
• ISBN 13: 9780500480786
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 17.53W x 2.03H x 20.07D centimeters 17.53 centimeters width by 2.03 centimeters height by 20.07 centimeters depth
• Weight: 420 grams

About this title

Synopsis

A joyful and celebratory gift book devoted to the work of the much-loved English artist Eric Ravilious (1903–1942) and the influence of natural forms and themes in his work.

Eric Ravilious was a designer, painter, printmaker, and illustrator best known for his war work and depictions of the English landscape, particularly the South Downs in Sussex. Often described as a particularly “English” artist, key to his style was an ability to convey in watercolor the nuances of the British climate. Eric Ravilious: Landscapes & Nature explores his appreciation of the natural world and the techniques he used in a variety of media to convey its various elements.

Drawing on the V&A’s collections, more than one hundred beautiful images capture Ravilious’s deep enjoyment of everything in nature, from grassy hills, owls, greenhouse geraniums, and snow, to rainy seas, airport-runway puddles, and tideswept beaches. This book reveals common themes running through his work, such as weather, plants, animals, and birds, as well as Ravilious’s love of depicting signs of human presence in the landscape, including rusting machinery, ships and aircraft, and his famous illustrations of hillside chalk figures.

Although best known for his watercolors, Ravilious was also inspired to learn wood engraving by seeing the V&A’s Samuel Palmer exhibition of 1926. Due to encouragement by his tutor Paul Nash and later to financial pressures, Ravilious turned his hand to a wide variety of creative work, from designs for ceramics, glass, furniture, murals, and textiles, to illustrating books, pamphlets, and posters.

122 illustrations

About the Author

Ella Ravilious is curator: architecture and design at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. She is the daughter of photographer James Ravilious and the granddaughter of artist Eric Ravilious. Her book Eric Ravilious: Landscapes & Nature was published in association with the V&A in the fall of 2023.