Eric Ravilious served as an official war artist from 1939 until his death in 1942 when the RAF plane he was travelling in went down off the coast of Iceland. After studying at the Royal College of Art under Paul Nash, whose own paintings of the Western Front were an important influence, Ravilious had a successful career before the war as a commercial artist.
His pictures offer an unusual and intimate insight into wartime life in Britain. Massive pieces of machinery lie in snowy fields, groups of men stand with oars and barrels against a glorious sunrise on Whitstable sands, while in others barrage balloons float in grey and turbulent skies. Elsewhere Ravilious captures the human aspect of the wartime experience with domestic scenes of the Dundee sick bay and cabin interiors strewn with papers and tired men sleeping at the table.
His work suggests that there is a place for beauty in the darkness of war.
.JPG)
No comments:
Post a Comment