![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNpd5fnil4DmCt_IJOFwrKiQG4_lDGa-uqeE_-uuulje8ap4w_nH5giIP6OujIvDr4WaizQCmfuy993WiP_p8q0Mn7TKIYoodHu4opdO6vbWJ2IsXJ-7FrxvkIDoEPg3eUsH6kVw/s400/OP04794.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN7L2RFsLGHDWUlbpX5o8RiOviV7NAzjDD5I7qof-6DPF7EOQgXXq46xq4Tl4pP9LJcXsHaKKzLTYOOsCddeoUGH8yAj_39COW6lBJiA5xyCqjEwSWtTaUXLXYk6oXkGvJpfhcrQ/s400/p9057_badmin_0857.jpg)
Or this:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE0X2XJsQjwMWBw1L4q736mr99bI1Sb8HLK13hnXRBNeaSvpS9CnU4OkceSWKixFOe7pNm8lK99fEx699sy5cFEzY7ee4sLH36NllnQNZ_HQEdD0_aF9JJIQidJyHoy0nx8WxVrw/s400/Ashdown1930.jpg)
And it is the difference between art and illustration. Ravilious was arguably one of the greatest British artists of the inter-war years and if his life hadn't ended prematurely, I'm sure that he would be a household name (in Hampstead, at least).
I first discovered Eric Ravilious in the Towner Gallery at Eastbourne, where I went to see an exhibition of original Ladybird illustrations. As soon as I saw his paintings, I knew that I had found a kindred spirit and spent the next few years searching for anything I could find about Ravilious.
Today there is a growing Ravilious cult. He is one of those word-of-mouth figures (like Nick Drake 20 years ago) who has a devoted following and it is only a matter of time before he becomes as well-known as Paul Nash and Henry Moore.
To return to Chalk Paths, there is a piece of music that complements Ravilious' watercolour: the Pastoral Symphony by Alan Rawsthorne. If you play the last movement of the symphony and look at the painting, there is a striking sympatico between the two.
11 comments:
Steerforth, this was prudent purchasing indeed.I love Eric Ravilious and am still kicking myself at leaving a beautiful book about him on the stand at a book fair a while ago because it was a whopping £40 but I've thought about it so many times since.If I see it at the next one it's mine!
Hmm. Yes.
His name alone ( Eric Ravilious..)is a selling point.
Wonderful.
What a beautiful print. Well worth the sizeable chunk of one's salary.
I'm going down to Folkestone on Sunday to spend my pension on this eerie, atmospheric picture. I spent my infancy in the South Downs at Saltdean and seeing an illustration of this print in a magazine made me want to capture this image to relive my early childhood.
The Ravilious Chalk Paths print is indeed a wonderful print. I've found that you can purchase it, and lots others by Ravilious, direct from the Publishers, Bookroom Art Press (on Google) for only £219.99. They also sell Edward Bawden prints who was Ravilious's friend and colleague.
Oz
It is truely a wonderful piece of art and it is problably one of my most treasured possessions.
Does anyone know the location on the downs that inspired it?
I too love and own this picture.
The Towner are offering a tour of his locations in September but I have not been able to find any info about this so far.
My guess is that its the start of the path up to Mount Harry from Offham- but that's a fair walk from Furlongs .
I would like to know?
I would love to go on that walk. I'll have to find out more.
Isn't Ravilious a household name now? And personally, I'm beginning find the ubiquitous reproductions of his work pretty tedious. The Stanley Badmin oil of a snowy downland scene is a lovely thing - now there is a charming, original thing
I presume that this contrarian response is for humour purposes.
Ravillious' work could never ever be described as tedious. Highly original and full of emotion.
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