Ancient Landscape, Modern Times

The rolling grasslands of southern England are home to myriad species of insects and butterflies—a mortal deity among them known as the Adonis blue—and has been grazed by sheep for centuries. It’s an ancient landscape, characterized by small villages, country roads, and its namesake chalky limestone that evokes a kind of timelessness, a glimpse of a kind of neolithic place. This region has stoked artists’ imaginations for generations, and around a century ago, the young artist Eric Ravilious (1903-1942) stood at the fore of a group of artists who took inspiration from the natural landforms, prehistoric chalk horses, and views and ephemera of daily life.

A survey of work by Ravilious, William Nicholson, Paul Nash, John Nash, Tirzah Garwood, Peggy Angus, and other British artists covering output from the 1910s to the 1940s opens on October 3 at The Holburne Museum in Bath. A range of prints, paintings, drawings, and archival matter illuminate how the artists perceived the South Downs within the context of a quickly evolving society that also saw a profusion of both amateur photography and Art Deco style during the same time—the angular, graphic aspect of which has a distinctive role to play in many of Ravilious’ works. The museum says, “Across the exhibition, the chalklands emerge not simply as picturesque scenery but as places where artists negotiated questions of history, identity and belonging, revealing how ancient landscapes could speak powerfully to modern times.”

Ancient Landscape, Modern Times will run through January 10. ✧

All images © Éric Antoine, courtesy of Hemeria.