Ravilious & Co: The Pattern of Friendship

Description

In recent years Eric Ravilious has become recognized as one of the most important British artists of the 20th century, whose watercolours and wood engravings capture an essential sense of place and the spirit of mid-century England. What is less appreciated is that he did not work in isolation, but within a much wider network of artists, friends and lovers influenced by Paul Nash's teaching at the Royal College of Art - Edward Bawden, Barnett Freedman, Enid Marx, Tirzah Garwood, Percy Horton, Peggy Angus and Helen Binyon among them. The Ravilious group bridged the gap between fine art and design, and the gentle, locally rooted but spritely character of their work came to be seen as the epitome of contemporary British values. Seventy-five years after Ravilious's untimely death, Andy Friend tells the story of this group of artists from their student days through to the Second World War. Ravilious & Co. explores how they influenced each other and how a shared experience animated their work, revealing the significance in this pattern of friendship of women artists, whose place within the history of British art has often been neglected. Generously illustrated and drawing on extensive research, and a wealth of newly discovered material, Ravilious & Co. is an enthralling narrative of creative achievement, joy and tragedy.

Andy Friend has spent a decade researching the life and work of Eric Ravilious and his extensive circle. He is co-curator of Towner Art Gallery's major touring exhibition, 'Ravilious & Co.'

'Adds much new detail and factual fine-tuning to our picture of national, in contrast to international, modern art in interwar Britain' - Daily Telegraph 'Friend excels ... in the glimpses he offers of the lives behind the art' - The Times 'A moving book' - Literary Review 'A lovingly researched and crafted portrait of intricately connected creative lives... New voices emerge from the archives, unfamiliar images light up the pages. Here, above all, is the joyous making of art' - Alexandra Harris, author of Weatherland 'Beautifully illustrated' - The Times 'Gorgeously illustrated' - The Lady 'Beautifully written' - Sussex Life 'The book is magnificent. I can't recommend it enough ... Andy Friend seems to have opened new vistas on the lives, loves and connections of this mesmerising and migrant artist - right up to his last fatal flight off Iceland in 1942' - Robert Macfarlane 'Valuable and absorbing' - Yorkshire Post 'A deft example of that tricky genre, the group biography' - Martin Gayford, the Spectator 'One of the best biographies this year ... a lovely account' - Guardian 'Shrewdly and sympathetically charts the wide-ranging influence of this group and their personal and professional relationships' - Sunday Times 'Generously illustrated, beautifully written ... a remarkable testimony to the making of art and friendship' - The Artist 'A fascinating slice of English artistic and social history' - New York Review of Books 'Engagingly written ... beautifully produced' - Art Newspaper