Eric Ravilious: Imagined Realities (Paperback)

New edition!

The English artist Eric Ravilious (1903-42) was a painter of watercolours and murals, a book illustrator in wood engraving and lithography, and a designer of transfer-ware, pottery and porcelain.

From 1939 till his death he was an Official War Artist. This book presents a full retrospective of all aspects of his work, culminating in the final phase of his war artist work.

Ravilious is well known to a circle of collectors and admirers who feel no need to explain his work. Partly as a result of this, he has tended to remain isolated from the broader art historical narratives of the period. This book is the first sustained attempt to understand his appeal and importance using a wider artistic and historical context.

In addition to being a straight retrospective the book interprets Ravilious’s work on the basis of documentary sources and more recent readings of art and ideas.

The book positions Ravilious in a European and American context of the period, identifying artists and designers whose work shows similar characteristics and require a historical grouping separate from modernism.