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Ravilious
This beautifully illustrated book is the first full-length critical study to focus on the watercolours of multitalented British artist and designer Eric Ravilious (1903–1942). Adopting the wide-ranging approach familiar to readers of his previous books on the artist, author James Russell explores the evolution of a remarkable talent.
An introductory section offers an intimate portrait of Ravilious, an artist for whom personal relationships, particularly with women, were paramount. It goes on to describe the extraordinary achievements of an all-too-brief career, drawing on new research to seek out artistic influences and examine Ravilious's relationships with fellow-artists, as well as the development of his mark making.
There follows the most comprehensive display of Ravilious watercolours yet assembled. Some have never been published, while others are familiar and well loved. Many are explored in short accompanying essays, some with full-bleed images that show details of paintings at full size. These texts are designed to entertain and enlighten, looking at composition, technique, influence and inspiration, or discussing the significance of particular subjects and the people behind the scenes.
This is the definitive guide to the luminous, evocative and timeless watercolours of Eric Ravilious, an artist now regarded as one of the finest of the twentieth century.
An introductory section offers an intimate portrait of Ravilious, an artist for whom personal relationships, particularly with women, were paramount. It goes on to describe the extraordinary achievements of an all-too-brief career, drawing on new research to seek out artistic influences and examine Ravilious's relationships with fellow-artists, as well as the development of his mark making.
There follows the most comprehensive display of Ravilious watercolours yet assembled. Some have never been published, while others are familiar and well loved. Many are explored in short accompanying essays, some with full-bleed images that show details of paintings at full size. These texts are designed to entertain and enlighten, looking at composition, technique, influence and inspiration, or discussing the significance of particular subjects and the people behind the scenes.
This is the definitive guide to the luminous, evocative and timeless watercolours of Eric Ravilious, an artist now regarded as one of the finest of the twentieth century.
- GenresArt
168 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 3, 2015
This book was brought out to accompany the fantastically successful exhibition of Ravilious' work at The Dulwich Picture Gallery in 2015, and contains a wonderful selection of his paintings. I am a keen but inadequate watercolour painter myself with no education in art history. So this review comes from a place of mighty ignorance. As no-one else has done a review though, I thought I would man up and have go.
Each picture in this book is presented in its entirety, and many are accompanied by full page close ups too, the better to enable the reader to appreciate Ravilious' craftsmanship. And what craftsmanship there is. His abilities to create different textures, along with lovely, moody variations in colour, are a delight. Sometimes it's almost impossible to believe he is working in watercolour. The way he manipulates this medium is amazing. He is also a superb draughtsman, something that I only began to appreciate after studying his paintings for a while. Because his work is quite decorative, it's easy to view it as almost naive - but this is far from the case. (In fact he taught for some years at The Royal College of Art.)
The book gives a brief description of his life story, and there is a useful timeline in the back of the book.
It also explores his approaches to subjects. For me what really stands out is that he nearly always painted freshly from life. He also seldom did preliminary sketches, preferring to work immediately on the final paintings. As a result, he rejected many of his finished works.
The book also shows some of his magnificent work as a war artist - but points out that he was dominated by aesthetics. Not for him the blood and guts of the battlefield, but rather the bold scenarios of battleships and fighter planes, or figures just doing regular duty in submarines or on the beach. Even when there are fires, or guns firing, the paintings resemble fabulous firework displays, rather than scenes of grim fighting.
Most of all he managed to capture the spirit of pre-war England. Beautiful fields, simple country cottage rooms, and an extraordinary array of machinery - often on farms or in fields - all uniquely portrayed with great presence and wonderful compositions.
Ravilious died just before he was forty - in a plane that went missing off the coast of Iceland. We can only be grateful that he managed to achieve so much before he died.
This would make a superb present (the best present ever!) for anyone who works in watercolour. So a huge thank you to my friend Sally, who very kindly gave it to me ♥ ♥ ♥
Each picture in this book is presented in its entirety, and many are accompanied by full page close ups too, the better to enable the reader to appreciate Ravilious' craftsmanship. And what craftsmanship there is. His abilities to create different textures, along with lovely, moody variations in colour, are a delight. Sometimes it's almost impossible to believe he is working in watercolour. The way he manipulates this medium is amazing. He is also a superb draughtsman, something that I only began to appreciate after studying his paintings for a while. Because his work is quite decorative, it's easy to view it as almost naive - but this is far from the case. (In fact he taught for some years at The Royal College of Art.)
The book gives a brief description of his life story, and there is a useful timeline in the back of the book.
It also explores his approaches to subjects. For me what really stands out is that he nearly always painted freshly from life. He also seldom did preliminary sketches, preferring to work immediately on the final paintings. As a result, he rejected many of his finished works.
The book also shows some of his magnificent work as a war artist - but points out that he was dominated by aesthetics. Not for him the blood and guts of the battlefield, but rather the bold scenarios of battleships and fighter planes, or figures just doing regular duty in submarines or on the beach. Even when there are fires, or guns firing, the paintings resemble fabulous firework displays, rather than scenes of grim fighting.
Most of all he managed to capture the spirit of pre-war England. Beautiful fields, simple country cottage rooms, and an extraordinary array of machinery - often on farms or in fields - all uniquely portrayed with great presence and wonderful compositions.
Ravilious died just before he was forty - in a plane that went missing off the coast of Iceland. We can only be grateful that he managed to achieve so much before he died.
This would make a superb present (the best present ever!) for anyone who works in watercolour. So a huge thank you to my friend Sally, who very kindly gave it to me ♥ ♥ ♥
May 29, 2016
4.5 stars. Beautiful book, lovely collection of Ravilious's work. Some text with each picture. Really enjoyed this book, very inspiring.
June 24, 2020
Beautiful images
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews