Ravilious: Wood Engravings

Although a brilliant watercolourist, lithographer and designer, Eric Ravilious (1903-42) was above all a wood engraver. It was in this demanding medium that he first found artistic expression in the early 1920s, and over the next two decades produced some of the finest engravings of the age.

For this latest book Ravilious: Wood Engravings, illustrations that show the evolution of this remarkable talent have been selected. Some have the mysterious quality of his watercolours, while a wry humour animates others, such as his portrait of publisher Robert Gibbings being carried off by a giant cockerel.

Running through the book is a sense of the great pleasure Ravilious took in his work, which he approached with great skill and a light heart. Accompanying each illustration, is an extended caption designed to illuminate the engraving in an informative and entertaining way.

In a manner familiar to readers of Ravilious in Pictures, author James Russell sets out to discover the places that inspired Ravilious, explore the remarkable books he illustrated and meet the people he portrayed. Ravilious: Wood Engravings is both a collection of beautiful, surprising pictures and an entertaining portrait of a wonderful artist and his world.