John Nash Wood Engravings

TWENTY ONE WOOD ENGRAVINGS

JOHN NASH

front cover: DATURA, Poisonous Plants, ÂŁ345 [1927], ed 20, 16.5 x 12.6 cm

Prices include frame, VAT and UK delivery All prices correct at December 2009, may be subject to change.

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JOHN NASH Although John Nash had established his artistic reputation with the London Group and Camden Town Group of artists immediately before the Great War and also become an Official War Artist, his first recorded wood engravings date from 1919. By Christmas that year he was able to present his brother, the artist Paul Nash, with a folder of twelve engravings and the following year he was a founder member of the Society of Wood Engravers. Until 1924 his wood engravings were usually issued as individual prints but in that year he was asked by the prestigious Golden Cockerel Press to illustrate a limited edition of Jonathan Swift’s book Directions to Servants. Thereafter Nash’s wood engravings were often commissioned as book illustrations and amongst his most highly regarded images are those for Ovid’s Elegies (1925) and Poisonous Plants (1927). Nash produced approximately 135 wood engravings before abandoning the medium in 1935. He was again appointed an Official War Artist in W.W.II, became a Royal Academician in 1951 and was awarded a C.B.E. in 1964.

Probably because he received little formal art education Nash’s approach to wood engraving has been described

by Albert Garrett, a fellow wood engraver, as follows: His innocence and freshness of outlook has led him to emphasise the sharp-cut quality of engraving and this expresses the essence of living and the appreciation of forms. John Nash’s engravings of the human form, of flowers and of plants have a realism that is quite scientific in its observation and crispness of expression. Despite the fact that they are small works, the engravings are important in the British school because they stand out as unique studies of natural structures, progression and rhythm, surface texture, accurate three-dimensional rendering and shape expression (A History of British Wood Engraving). Garrett concluded that, Nash is the complete artist.

HORSES GRAZING 4, £250 [1920], ed 20, 6.4 x 6.4 cm

HORSES GRAZING 3, £250 [1920], ed 20, 6.3 x 6.9 cm

These 21 engravings were immaculately printed in 1993 by Simon Lawrence at the renowned Fleece Press from John Nash’s original woodblocks. Each carries the authorisation of the artist’s Estate Stamp on the reverse and is individually numbered in pencil from an edition of 20. A certificate of authentication accompanies each print.

A TRICKY MOMENT, £250 [1919], ed 20, 10.1 x 7.5 cm

FOXGLOVE, Poisonous Plants, £345 [1927], ed 20, 15.5 x 11.1 cm

THE RABBIT, £295 [1920], ed 20, 11.6 x 9 cm

HELLEBORUS FOETIDUS, Poisonous Plants, £345 [1927], ed 20, 15.9 x 12.7 cm

AD CYPASSIAM, Ovid’s Elegies, £250 (variant, not used), [1925], ed 20, 9.6 x 8.9 cm

AD CYPASSIAM ANCILLIAM CORINNAE, Ovid’s Elegies, £275 [1925], ed 20, 11.5 x 9 cm

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BABS, £295 [1923], ed 20, 15.2 x 9.4 cm

WHITELEAF CROSS, £225 [1919] ed 20, 7.6 x 6.9 cm

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INTERIOR(WITH FIGURE) THE MUSICIAN, £275 [1925], ed 20, 15.2 x 11.3 cm

CHRISTMAS ROSES Christmas card, £250 [1931], ed 20, 8.7 x 6.8 cm

COWS, £295 [1920], ed 20, 11.4 x 8.2 cm

SEA POPPY, Poisonous Plants, £345 [1927], ed 20, 15.1 x 11.3 cm

THE CORNFIELD, £250 [1919], ed 20, 8.9 x 9.6 cm

ARUM, Poisonous Plants, £345 [1927], ed 20, 15.1 x 11.3 cm

DOG SCRATCHING, £250 [1920], ed 20, 7 x 5.1 cm

WATER HEMLOCK, Poisonous Plants, £345 [1927], ed 20, 15.2 x 11.5 cm

TIBBY AND PATCH, £250 [1919], ed 20, 9 x 6.2 cm

These 21 engravings were immaculately printed in 1993 by Simon Lawrence at the renowned Fleece Press from John Nash’s original woodblocks. Each carries the authorisation of the artist’s Estate Stamp on the reverse and is individually numbered in pencil from an edition of 20. A certificate of authentication accompanies each print.

Original editions of Nash prints are now extremely scarce. The Poisonous Plants series is thought of as one of the peaks reached by wood engraving as illustration. (Jeremy Greenwood, The WoodEngravings of John Nash, Wood Lea Press, 1987).

view online at www.recentacquisitions.com Prices include frame, VAT and UK delivery All prices correct at December 2009, may be subject to change.

TO ORDER PHONE 01572 821424

ANEMONE PULSATILLA, Poisonous Plants, £345 [1927], ed 20, 14.2 x 10.5 cm

JOHN NASH GOLDMARK GALLERY UPPINGHAM, RUTLAND, LE15 9SQ Open Monday to Saturday 9.30-5.30, Sunday 2.30-5.30 and Bank Holidays info@goldmarkart.com www.goldmarkart.com