Paul Nash
"I have tried … to paint trees as tho’ they were human beings"
British surrealist painter, printmaker and war artist Paul Nash was born on this day in 1889.
Nash is considered to be one of the most important landscape artists of the first half of the twentieth century, and played a key role in the development of Modernism in English art. The works that he produced during World War I are among the most iconic images of the conflict.
After the war, Nash continued to focus on landscape painting, but in an increasingly abstract and surreal manner. He found much inspiration in landscapes with elements of ancient history, such as burial mounts and Iron Age hill forts.
We have a number of engravings by Nash in our collection which can be viewed by appointment in our Western Art Print Room when we reopen.
The Wood on the Hill (Wittenham Clumps), pen and graphite on paper, 1912.
