Book of the Week

Ravilious & Co: The Pattern of Friendship by Andy Friend 
Recommended by Dr Hudson

Eric Ravilious was one of the best watercolour painters England has ever produced. I was fortunate enough to attend the exhibition that this book was written to accompany, at the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, earlier this year and was moved hungrily to devour the book.

It was a wonderful exhibition, curated by the author and art historian, Andy Friend, with artworks not only by Ravilious himself but also by others from his group who gathered in and around the village of Great Bardfield in Essex in the 1930s and 40s.
Many of them had been students together at the Royal School of Art, where they were tutored by the great Paul Nash (OP), who instilled in them the belief that fine art and commercial design were not the separate entities many others insisted they were. The book, too is wonderful – literally, in that it contains many wonders, in the form of reproductions of the important works seen in the exhibition.

View from Brick House, Great Bardfield (Eric Ravilious)

The book is principally a biography of Ravilious, who died in 1942 at the age of 39, the aeroplane in which he was travelling as a war artist disappearing over Iceland. The author also provides fascinating information about the other artists with whom he was associated – among whom were his wife, Tirzah Garwood, his great friend, Edward Bawden and his lover, Helen Binyon who was the daughter of poet and museum director, Laurence (another OP).

Tirzah Garwood and Eric Ravilious

Their work included a great many wood engravings, some of which – such as the design Ravilious made for the cover of Wisden’s annual publication – became immensely familiar and others which are breathtaking in their superb detail and craftsmanship.

Watercolours, too, are obviously well-represented, with the angular planes and dry brush technique which Ravilious made his own much to the fore.

It was a fascinating life, I discovered, even beyond the works themselves. As you will have gathered from the relationships mentioned above, there was something of a love triangle going on, but this was no bitter feud, rather an attempt to live lives of understanding and honesty.

 Eric Ravilious and Helen Binyon (painting by Peggy Angus)

When Ravilious died, his widow was comforted by two women: Binyon and another member of the set, Diana Low, all of whom loved him deeply. Friend writes in a clear and engaging style, with admirable attention to detail which always manages to be interesting and is often amusing. Highly recommended.