Ravilious & Co: The Pattern of Friendship

by Andy Friend, Alan Powers (Introduction)

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

Genres: Art, Biography, Nonfiction, British Literature

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 20, 2017

Reviews

[John Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introduction by Alan Powers, author of 'Eric Ravilious: Artist and Designer '.

Andy Friend spent a decade researching his subject to bring us this gem. It is published in the 75th anniversary year of Eric Ravilious's death. This occurred over Iceland where as a war artist he was flying with a small RAF crew. The book also coincides with the stunning exhibition of the same title at the Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne. (Ravilious grew up in Eastbourne and loved Sussex and captured that in a number of his paintings)

Ravilious was part of a talented circle, including Edward Bawden, Barnett Freedman, Percy Horton, Douglas Percy Bliss, Paul and John Nash, Enid Marx, Peggy Angus, Helen Binyon, Tirzah Garwood, the future Mrs Ravilious, to name but some. It largely covers the period 1920-45. Ravilious and his circle left their mark upon the world I was to eventually grow up in – painting, designing(textiles, book covers, porcelain etc etc) engraving.

The book follows the lives of Ravilious and his circle – it does what it says – tracing the pattern of their friendship and what they left behind for us. It is beautifully produced, seamlessly written with so many reproductions of paintings, designs and photographs to which I know I will return to often.

Ravilious' work is now often reproduced on greetings cards. He captures his world in a way that no one else has – whether it be an English green and pleasant land, its industrial architecture, seascape, at peace and war. We can trace here the influences upon him and his fellow artists/designers and what they contributed to each other.

So much here which bears quoting but I'll leave it with Eric Newton in the Sunday Times, 1939 (reprinted 1950), speaking of Ravilious:

“He paints trees as though he were a squirrel, flower-pots as though he were a gardener, mountains as though he were a sheep, cliffs and lighthouse as though he were a seagull. He makes you feel that each object matters immensely, that it has become inextricably tangled with his experience, and that he wants desperately to show you what it is really like.”

Recommended to anyone interested in the period during which Ravilious & Co lived, in art, design and England.

[Laura Spira · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was keen to read this book as I greatly admire the work of Eric Ravilious and I also wanted to find out more about Peggy Angus, one of his friends, who was the art teacher at my school in the late 1950s. The book offers a very detailed picture of the lives of Ravilious and his group, with extensive quotes from their correspondence and provides an excellent insight into the working lives of these artists, as well as their emotional entanglements.

The illustrations in the book are very well reproduced, as one might expect from Thames & Hudson, a well established art publisher. But the editing was disappointing. Ravilious and Bawden were sometimes referred to by their first names and sometimes by their surnames, shifts which became distracting. I was surprised to see "palate" for "palette" in an art book and several of the figures were wrongly numbered where referred to in the text. Given the great detail in the notes, the index was sketchy.

The research undertaken by the author is clearly extensive. However, the individual stories were not always easy to follow and there was some repetition which was confusing in places. I would have liked to see more exploration of the apparent lack of any contact with the Bloomsbury set who spent much time in geographical proximity to this group of artists yet appeared to have nothing in common - and have received so much attention over the years. In the hands of an accomplished biographer - such as Jenny Uglow - this material might have been brought to life more vividly.

[Ade · Rating 4 out of 5]

You wouldn't think "pleasant chap makes some great pictures before dying young" could make for a rivetting read but Andy Friend does indeed achieve this with this detailed biography of Eric Ravilious and his contemporaries. He also pays fair due to the achievements of the women artists from this period, notably the long-suffering and frequently overlooked Tirzah Garwood, whose legacy might have exceeded her husband's had she been given more opportunity and years, as well as Peggy Angus, Enid Marx and Helen Binyon. Edward Bawden features in large part too but the narrative remains centred around Ravilious. It's perhaps stronger on the art than the personal but the treatment of the various infidelities within the Ravilious marriage is frank without becoming scurrilous or accusatory. Chapters are named after specific locations or dwellings within the tale, and the sense of impending tragedy is deeply affecting as you reach "To Iceland", with the following "Aftermath" a moving closure to the book. What is left to us somehow isn't enough, but we remain very fortunate for all that we have gained of their work.

I must also note that the book itself is beautifully designed with a pleasing selection of colour reproductions from all the artists referenced - not large enough for proper appreciation, given the size limitations, but welcome to provide the necessary visual context. As the approving notice on the back from Alexandra Harris indicates, it makes an excellent companion to Romantic Moderns: English Writers, Artists and the Imagination from Virginia Woolf to John Piper.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly decent but did not live up to my expectations. One of those books where I felt I could give it a high mark as a piece of work, but not from me as a reader as it was overall rather flat in tone. The concept of examining Ravilious' artistic social circle was a good one and meticulously detailed, giving some picture of what life was like, and I did appreciate learning more of the life and work of Tirzah Garwood, Ravilious' wife, clearly a very talented artist who found a niche for herself.

[Katharine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-researched look at the career of Eric Ravilious and his circle of friends. Lots of interesting people crop up and the book is full of fascinating detail but it rather fell between two stools as it wasn't a full portrait of Ravilious but didn't give a particularly strong picture of his friends. Beautifully illustrated but slightly unsatisfying.

[Alex Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this - very well written and beautifully illustrated.