Eric Ravilious: Imagined Realities

by Alan Powers

The English artist Eric Ravilious (1903-42) was a painter of watercolours and murals, a book illustrator in wood engraving and lithography, and a designer of transfer-ware, pottery and porcelain.From 1939 till his death he was an Official War Artist. This book presents a full retrospective of all aspects of his work, culminating in the final phase of his war artist work.Ravilious is well known to a circle of collectors and admirers who feel no need to explain his work. Partly as a result of this, he has tended to remain isolated from the broader art historical narratives of the period. This book is the first sustained attempt to understand his appeal and importance using a wider artistic and historical context.In addition to being a straight retrospective the book interprets Ravilious's work on the basis of documentary sources and more recent readings of art and ideas.The book positions Ravilious in a European and American context of the period, identifying artists and designers whose work shows similar characteristics and require a historical grouping separate from modernism.The combination of 'fine' and 'applied' art in Ravilious's oeuvre is explored as an exemplar of the Art and Industry movement of the inter-war period which ran parallel to modernism.The book also deals with the questions of English identity that arise from Ravilious's work and his important role in developing new perceptions of Englishness in the period.The book accompanies an exhibition opening at the Imperial War Museum, London, in October 2003.

Genres: Art

Paperback

First published August 7, 2004

About the author

Alan Powers is a teacher, researcher and writer specialising in architecture and design.

Powers trained as an art historian at University of Cambridge, gaining an undergraduate degree and a PhD.

As a writer Powers has been prolific, writing reviews, magazine articles, obituaries of artists and architects as well as books. He has concentrated on 20th century British architecture and architectural conservation. He has also written books on the design of book jackets, shop fronts, book collectors, and the artist Eric Ravilious as well as monographs on Serge Chermayeff, and the British firms of Tayler and Green and of Aldington, Graig and Collinge.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are very few pleasures in life that give real satisfaction and with Ravilious you get a true sense of satisfaction. A man who brings a certain feeling that try as one might you know they don't age but mature.

Many lovers of his artwork wonder how it would have evolved if the plane flying to iceland during the war had not gone missing.

If you want to while away a few hours just enjoyng Ravilious's art, then do so. Take pleasure in those water colours and realise that this great man was lost to us far to soon.

[Nat]

There's something in common between my attraction to mid-century ordinary language philosophy, the silliest, most English, and smallest-scale type of philosophy and liking Ravilious's watercolors and woodcuts. And even my interest in military aviation is best expressed by Ravilious's intentionally naïve representations—I love the shapes and their movement, and want to ignore the awful things that they bring about.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only skimmed text, illustrations amazing!!

[Sue Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I need to rate this book twice, for the illustrations and for the writing. The illustrations are superb, the writing less so, it is too dense for me. I guess it was aimed at the serious art collector. But from what I gleaned from the dense text, Eric Ravillious was an intriguing person and I would have liked more on how he ticked.