Eric William Ravilious (22 July 1903 - 2 September 1942) was an English painter, designer, book illustrator and wood engraver. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of Year 1903 ( MCMIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar or a Common year starting Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland
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Early life
Ravilious was born 22 July, 1903 in Acton, London. Acton is a place in west London, England situated west of Charing Cross. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom.
Career
Ravilious studied at Eastbourne School of Art, and at the Royal College of Art, where he studied under Paul Nash and became close friends with Edward Bawden. The Royal College of Art ( RCA) is a University in London, England. Paul Nash, ( 11 May 1889 &ndash 11 July 1946) was an English War artist. Edward Bawden CBE RA (1903&ndash1989 was a British painter illustrator and graphic artist
He began his working life as a muralist, first coming to notice as an artist in 1924. He went on to become one of the best-known artists of the 1930s. The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression. His watercolours, painted with a fine stippling technique within compositions that give light or dark features a telling role, are thought by some to have an almost uncanny loveliness. He was the leading light of wood-engraving in England at that time, and undertook ceramic designs for Wedgwood. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Wedgwood, strictly Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a British Pottery firm originally founded in 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood, which in 1987 He also designed graphics for London Transport. The board The LPTB had seven members a chairman and six other members
Death
Ravilious was an official war artist in World War II and received a commission in the Royal Marines. A war artist, also known as a combat artista captures the experience of War in an Artistic manner whilst based in the battlefield The Royal Marines ( RM) are the marine corps and amphibious Infantry of the United Kingdom and along with the Royal Navy He was killed 2 September 1942[1] at the age of 39 while accompanying a Royal Air Force air sea rescue mission off Iceland that failed to return to its base. Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ( ( Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland (
Legacy
Neglected for many years after the war, a major retrospective of Ravilious' work was staged by The Imperial War Museum in 2004. The Imperial War Museum is a Museum in London, England featuring military vehicles weapons war memorabilia an extensive library open to the public
Original prints by Ravilious are difficult to find and only original lithographs from the book High Street printed by Curwen Press in 1938 are occasionally found today; this wonderful series comprises 24 views of shops which were to be found on High Streets of the time; none of these original lithographs was ever signed.
The collected edition of all the Ravilious woodcuts of 1972, also printed by Curwen Press, contains photolitho reproductions of the original prints. The carved blocks were largely destroyed and the few that remained were considered to be too fragile to print from.
Ravilious engraved more than four hundred illustrations and drew over forty lithographic designs for books and publications during his lifetime. [1]
Personal life
For much of his life, Ravilious lived in Eastbourne, where he is commemorated by a blue plaque on the wall of his childhood home. Eastbourne ( is a large town and borough of East Sussex, on the south coast of England with an estimated population of 94816 as of 2007 In the United Kingdom, a blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event
He married Eileen Lucy "Tirzah" Garwood (1908-1951) in 1930. Tirzah Garwood was also a noted artist and engraver. Between 1930 and 1932 the couple lived in Hammersmith, London, where there is a blue plaque on the wall of their house at the corner of Upper Mall and Weltje Road. Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, approximately 5 miles (8km west of Charing Cross on
In 1932 Eric and Tirzah moved to rural Essex, where they initially lodged with Edward Bawden at Great Bardfield. Essex is a county in the East of England. The County town is Chelmsford, and the highest point of the county is Chrishall Common Edward Bawden CBE RA (1903&ndash1989 was a British painter illustrator and graphic artist Great Bardfield is a large village in Essex. Bardfield is the home of many important twentieth century English artists who hosted a series of important 'open house' exhibitions In 1934 they purchased Bank House at Castle Hedingham, and a blue plaque now commemorates this. Castle Hedingham is a small village in north-east Essex, UK, located four miles west of Halstead and is situated in the valley of the River Colne on
Ravilious' second son, James Ravilious, became a noted English photographer. James Ravilious ( 22 August 1939 - 29 September 1999) was an English photographer A photographer is a person who takes a Photograph using a Camera.
In 1946, four years after Eric Ravilious's death, his widow married Henry Swanzy.
Further reading
- Alan Powers, Oliver Green. Away We Go! Advertising London's Transport: Eric Ravilious & Edward Bawden (2006)
- Alan Powers. Eric Ravilious: Imagined Realities (2004)
- Freda Constable. The England of Eric Ravilious (2003)
- Richard Morphet. Eric Ravilious in Context (2002)
- Submarine dream: Lithographs and letters (1996)
- Robert Harling. Ravilious and Wedgwood: The Complete Wedgwood Designs of Eric Ravilious (1995)
- Helen Binyon. Eric Ravilious. Memoir of an Artist; The Lutterworth Press 2007, Cambridge; ISBN 9780718829209
- R. Dalrymple. Ravilious and Wedgewood, London 1986
- Eric Ravilious, 1903-42: A Re-assessment of his Life and Work (exh. cat. by P. Andrew, Eastbourne Towner A. G. & Local History Museum (1986)
- J. M. Richards. The Wood Engravings of Eric Ravilious, London 1972
References
- ^ "DESIGN", by Edward Bawden, Published by Antique Collector's Club, Woodbridge, England, ISBN 1 85149 500 2
External links
The 24 prints from High Street are displayed here.
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