The England of Eric Ravilious

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A useful collection of Ravilious' watercolours - Rated
The book opens with a list of plates, and a chronology. The main text, interesting but somewhat reverential in tone, chronicles his life and wide ranging career. The Plates conclude the book; there is no index.

It is an attractively laid out book, and a good size (over 10.5" x 8.5"; 27cm x 21.5cm), however it is let down in a couple of respects. Firstly the quality of reproduction of the text is sub-standard; the problem is probably pre-printing as the illustrations to not appear to be affected. Secondly the images are disappoint small relative to the page size, while the plates a presented one to a page, very few occupying more than half the page area. There are 30 full colour reproductions but disappointingly 34 in black and white, plus a few small black and white engravings accompanying the text.

A valuable book for providing us with a collective of Ravilious' watercolours, a shame more care was not take with its production; four stars for content ignoring the poorly reproduced text.

An unsung hero - Rated
Whilst it seems churlish to have any reservations about a book on Ravilious given the dearth of titles about this artist, I am disappointed that several paintings have been reproduced in black and white. That is a minor quibble. Overall, this is a fine survey of Eric Ravilous's works.

If you aren't familiar with this artist, he bears a passing resemblance to Paul Nash. There is a deep-seated pastoralism in many of the pictures that clearly has its root in the visionary paintings of Blake and Palmer, but it is a 20th-century view that is free of any sentimentality or religious dogma. Ravilious died young, disappearing on a flight during active service in World War Two. This book offers a tantalising glimpse of the artist's potential.