Christopher Wood: St. Ives Artists

by Virginia Button

The achievement of Christopher Wood (1901-1930) has often been overshadowed by the legend that grew up around his bohemian lifestyle and his dramatic suicide at the age of 29. Increasingly, however, critics have come to see his work as having a pivotal role in the development of modernism in Britain. Pursuing a path between the naturalism of the 1920s and the abstraction of the 1930s, he won the admiration of such modernist giants as Picasso and Cocteau and secured his status as among the most important painters of his generation. The author explores Wood's life and career in detail and examines the growth of a glamorous narrative of tragic genius that developed during the decades following his death. The integrity of Wood's endeavor, the combination of self-confidence and uncertainty, gives his paintings a human quality that continues to be admired today.

80 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2003

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first came across Christopher Wood while reading Sebastian Faulks's triple biography The Fatal Englishman some years ago. I had a proof copy of that which didn't have the photos of his paintings, so I wouldn't have recognised his art if you'd put it in front of me. I was quite taken with his brief life story though. Over the years I managed to see some of his paintings in galleries. This book by Virginia Button, with its many illustrations, gives a more thorough look at Wood's short life, putting his work into context and showing his legacy in English Art during the years following his early death.