Paul Nash

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Nash, Paul (1889–1946). English painter, book illustrator, writer, photographer, and designer, born in London, the son of a barrister. 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 (he saw himself as a successor to Blake and Turner) whilst at the same time responding imaginatively to European modernism. The most important part of his training was at the Slade School, 1910–11, after which he worked briefly for Roger Fry's Omega Workshops. At the outbreak of the First World War he enlisted with the Artists' Rifles and in 1917 was posted to the front at Ypres. He was invalided out after a few months, but he returned to France the same year as an Official War Artist (a result of the success of his exhibition ‘Ypres Salient’ at the Goupil Gallery, London, 1917). The paintings he produced include some powerful views of the pitted and shattered landscape of No Man's Land that rank among the most famous images of the conflict (We Are Making a New World, Imperial War Museum, London, 1918). He held a second successful exhibition, ‘The Void of War', at the Leicester Galleries, London, in 1918, and although his later career was varied and distinguished, many critics think that his First World War paintings mark the summit of his achievement.

During the 1920s and particularly the 1930s Nash was influenced by Surrealism (above all by de Chirico, an exhibition of whose work he saw in London in 1928), and he often concentrated on mysterious aspects of landscape. For much of this time he lived in rural areas ( Kent, 1921–5; Sussex, 1925–33; Dorset, 1934–5), basing his work on scenes he knew well but formalizing and imaginatively transforming them, sometimes almost to the point of abstraction (Landscape from a Dream, Tate Gallery, London, 1937–8). He continued to be involved in the London art world, however; as well as teaching at the Royal College of Art, 1924–5 and 1938–40, he was the prime mover behind the formation of the avant garde group Unit One in 1933 and he helped to organize and exhibited in the International Surrealist Exhibition in 1936. During the Second World War he was again an Official War Artist, even though at the outbreak of war he was already very ill with the asthmatic condition that killed him. His Second World War paintings are not generally as highly regarded as those of the First, but they include one acknowledged masterpiece, Totes Meer (Dead Sea) (Tate Gallery, London, 1940–1), which shows shot-down aircraft with their wings looking like undulating waves. Nash based it on a dump of wrecked planes he saw near Oxford, where he was living at this time, and he wrote that ‘a pervasive force, baffled yet malign, hung in the heavy air'. His final paintings, produced when he was very weak, were of flowers.

Nash also designed scenery, fabrics, and posters, and he was considered to be one of the finest book illustrators of his day, working in pen and ink, lithography, and wood engraving, sometimes in colour. He regarded his illustrations to an edition of Sir Thomas Browne's Urn Burial (1932) as his most successful work in this field. In 1936 he published a guidebook to Dorset in the Shell Guide series, and two collections of his writings appeared posthumously: Outline (a fragment of autobiography with some letters and essays) in 1949, and Poet and Painter (his correspondence with the poet Gordon Bottomley) in 1955. A collection of his photographs taken for use in his paintings was published as Fertile Image in 1951.

His brother John Nash (1893–1977) was also a landscape painter and an illustrator, excelling in meticulous flower drawings for botanical publications. Like Paul he was an Official War Artist in both world wars. His work is well represented in the Tate Gallery.

Nash, Paul (b London, 11 May 1889; d Boscombe, Hampshire, 11 July 1946). English painter, book illustrator, writer, photographer, and designer. 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 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, creating memorable images of the devastation the war wrought on the countryside. During the 1920s and particularly the 1930s he was influenced by Surrealism (above all by de Chirico, an exhibition of whose work he saw in London in 1928) and often concentrated on mysterious aspects of the landscape (Monster Field, 1939, Durban AG). 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. He continued to be involved in the London art world, however, and in 1933 he was the prime mover in the formation of Unit One; he also helped to organize 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 he produced one of the best-known works to be inspired by the conflict, Totes Meer (Dead Sea) (1940–1, Tate, London), 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. 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.

Nash, Paul (1889–1946). English painter, book illustrator, writer, photographer, and designer. 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, creating memorable images of the devastation the war wrought on the countryside. In the 1920s and particularly in the 1930s he was influenced by Surrealism (above all by de Chirico, an exhibition of whose work he saw in London in 1928) and often concentrated on mysterious aspects of the landscape (Monster Field, 1939, Durban AG). 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. In 1933 he was the prime mover in the formation of Unit One, and he helped to organize 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 he produced one of the best-known works to be inspired by the conflict, Totes Meer (Dead Sea) (1940–1, Tate, London), 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.

Nash, Paul (1889–1946). Painter and graphic artist. Originally intended for the navy, Nash failed to qualify and went to study art at the Slade School. Wounded during the 1914–18 war, he was appointed an official war artist and examples of his work from this time, We are Making a New World and The Menin Road, are in the Imperial War Museum. In the 1920s and 1930s Nash became established as one of the most individual painters of his day. Essentially a landscape artist, who saw himself as a successor to Blake and Turner, and influenced by modern European movements, his work was imbued with deep, sometimes prophetic symbolism. In the Second World War, he was again an official war artist; his Totes Meer (Dead Sea) and Bomber in the Corn hang in the Tate Gallery. He was also highly successful as a fabric and scenery designer, photographer, writer, and book illustrator.

June Cochrane

Nash, Paul (1889–1946). Painter and graphic artist. Wounded during the 1914–18 war, he was appointed an official war artist and examples of his work from this time, We are Making a New World and The Menin Road, are in the Imperial War Museum. Essentially a landscape artist, who saw himself as a successor to Blake and Turner, his work was imbued with deep, sometimes prophetic symbolism. In the Second World War, he was again an official war artist; his Totes Meer (Dead Sea) and Bomber in the Corn hang in the Tate Gallery.

Paul Nash 1889-1946, English painter and wood engraver. He studied at the Slade School of Art, London. Nash worked at the front as official artist in both World Wars. He helped to form Unit One, an English avant-garde group of artists and architects. Nash's paintings of the English landscape were imbued with a visionary and mystical atmosphere. His writings were published in one volume in 1949.

Nash, Paul (1889–1946) English painter and graphic artist. Devoted to the English countryside, he was also closely in touch with European modernism. Surrealism helped to stimulate the poetic, dream-like style of his landscapes, as in The Menin Road (1918) and Landscape from a Dream (1938).