Eric Ravilious: Gilbert White of Selborne

Few British books are as well-loved as Gilbert White’s Natural History of Selborne. As a teacher in the mid-1920s Ravilious had urged his students to read it, and he was delighted by this commission. The title page probably shows White and Thomas Pennant, otherwise the illustrations are all carefully rooted in the text. Below we see a boy stealing a honey-buzzard egg from ‘a tall slender beech’ and ‘considerable falls of snow, which lay deep and uniform on the ground without any drifting, wrapping up the more humble vegetation in perfect security’. The illustration above accompanies the words, ‘A good ornithologist should be able to distinguish birds by their air as well as by their colours and shape; on the ground as well as on the wing, and in the bush as well as in the hand.’ It shows, particularly in the barn owl depicted against the stars, how deeply Ravilious absorbed the vision of his great forerunner, Thomas Bewick.

This is an edited extract from 'Ravilious: Wood Engravings', which will be published by The Mainstone Press at the beginning of November. The book will be launched on November 7th at Pallant House Gallery, where I will give an illustrated talk on Rav's fascinating career as a wood engraver...

Ravilious Talk Dates: Pallant House, Richmond, The Fry & Dillington House

Eric Ravilious, Fireworks, 'High Street', 1938

Ravilious fans may be happy to know that I'm giving four illustrated lectures in November and early December. Personally I'm delighted, especially as each talk has a slightly different subject or angle - putting together a slide show for a specific event is great fun.

First, on November 7th, I'm speaking at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, where an exhibition devoted to Ravilious's work as a printmaker is about to open. I know Simon Martin the curator will have gathered a wonderful selection of prints, books and ephemera, and I'm looking forward to seeing how he's put the work together. I'll mostly be talking about wood engravings - and launching the new Mainstone Press book 'Ravilious: Wood Engravings' - but with excursions into lithography and the artist's designs for Wedgwood. Tickets are on sale here.

Eric Ravilious, BBC Talks Pamphlet, 1934

Taking part in a literary festival is always a highlight, and this year I'm giving a talk on 'Eric Ravilious: A Life in Pictures' at Richmond Literary Festival (that's south-west London, in case there's a rival Richmond somewhere else). Tickets for the talk on Saturday 9 November are available from the festival website, where you can of course see all the other treats in store. This lecture will give an overview of Ravilious's life and work, with plenty of pictures - watercolours, wood engravings, ceramic designs, lithos and photos both archive and modern.

I gave a talk on 'Ravilious in Essex' at the Fry Art Gallery - or at a hall nearby - a couple of years ago, and I'm looking forward to going back on Friday November 15th. This time I'll be discussing printmaking and design in a lecture entitled 'Woodcuts & Wedgwood, Shops & Submarines: Ravilious, Designer', and I'll work in plenty of biographical material, archive photos and so on. Some of the pictures I show will no doubt appear on Christmas cards the following month...

On 1st December, finally, the Ravilious roadshow arrives at Dillington House in deepest Somerset, a wonderful place to visit on a wintry Sunday. I have to confess that I didn't realise, until I was asked to give a talk there, what a fantastic arts programme they have at Dillington. In fact my talk is part of a Big Art Weekend, with lots of other events and courses going on; I'll be showing pictures and talking in informal and (I hope) entertaining fashion about 'Eric Ravilious: Master Artist', with watercolours, wood engravings and design work on show.

If you'd like more information about any of these lectures do get in touch. And if you come along, say hello!

Ravilious: Wood Engravings - Excerpt

Country Life Cookery Book by Ambrose Heath 
Country Life, 1937 

Well-known 1930s food writer Ambrose Heath wrote this guide for Country Life, combining seasonal recipes with tips for the country gardener; the illustrations correspond to particular months. In his introduction Heath laments the decline of the smaller country house, noting that 'The domestic problem is, of course, far more serious than it is in the towns.... Where forty years ago a servant would have gladly walked five miles into a village to meet a friend, she will not now cycle even two miles to see the pictures.' Staff shortages and the straitened economic climate have evidently forced housewives to cut back, and Heath offers recipes which are simple and inexpensive compared to the 'Mrs Beeton school of cooking’ - although Potted Pigeons, Gibelotte of Rabbit, Brain Fritters, Eggs in Jelly and Herring's Roe Fingers may sound exotic today. Ravilious was an expert fryer of bacon but sought assistance as he researched the engravings. 'Mrs Beeton has been a help,' he wrote.

This is an excerpt from Ravilious: Wood Engravings, which will be published this autumn by The Mainstone Press.

Ravilious: Printmaker at Pallant House

Robert Gibbings as 'Ganymede', 1931

Following the small but perfectly formed exhibition of Paul Nash prints, books and ephemera from the Clare Neilson Collection, Pallant House Gallery is preparing for an autumn show devoted to Eric Ravilious's work as a printmaker. The museum's De'Longhi Print Room is ideal for this kind of venture, being fairly small and walled with glass display cases, and it will be fascinating to see Rav's wood engravings and lithographs side by side.

On 7th November I'll be giving a talk on Ravilious's work as a wood engraver, in which I will discuss some of the pieces on display in the exhibition. The lecture should be a lot of fun - as with the 'Ravilious in Pictures' books I'll be going behind the scenes of various designs and images to talk about his inspiration, techniques and life.

Submarine Engineer, 'High Street', 1938

ERIC RAVILIOUS: WOOD ENGRAVING

During his short life Eric Ravilious (1903-42) was acknowledged as a brilliant wood engraver, at a time when the medium was enjoying a revival. This lecture explores the evolution of a remarkable talent, from his earliest engravings to the marvellous book illustrations, prints and designs that he created at the height of his career. The lecture promises a visual feast of wood engravings, along with ceramic designs such as the Alphabet and the Boat Race Bowl, images from 'High Street' (his 1938 book of shops) and 'The Submarine Series' (1941), as well as archive photos, sketches and work by other relevant artists. All in all an engaging portrait of a supreme craftsman.

FFI: Pallant House Gallery
       The Mainstone Press

'Ravilious: Wood Engravings' Out Soon!!

I'm excited! My book on the wood engravings of Eric Ravilious is heading for publication on October 20th, and I can't wait to see it printed, bound and wearing the spectacular jacket shown above. The book has 80 pages, measures approx. 25cm x 19cm, and should retail at £20. Obviously we can't fit all Rav's engravings in a book this size, but we have included at least one that has never been published before, and there are plenty of other treats. I'll post an extract or two over the coming weeks, meanwhile here's the official blurb:

Although a brilliant watercolourist, inventive lithographer and talented designer, Eric Ravilious (1903-42) was above all a wood engraver. It was in this demanding medium that he first found artistic expression in the early 1920s, and over the next two decades produced some of the finest engravings of the age. And what an age it was! Starting shortly before World War One, a succession of talented artists and designers explored a medium whose most famous British proponent, Thomas Bewick, had died almost a century earlier.

In his lifetime Ravilious was acknowledged as a modern master of wood engraving, and for Ravilious: Wood Engravings we have selected illustrations that show the evolution of a remarkable talent. Ravilious thrived on the limitations imposed by the medium, squeezing entire scenes into the tiniest vignette. Some of the engravings have the mysterious quality of his watercolours, while a wry humour animates others, such as his portrait of publisher Robert Gibbings being carried off by a giant cockerel. Running through the book is a sense of the pleasure Ravilious took in his work, which he approached with great skill and a light heart. While staying with his parents in Eastbourne he would cut his blocks with their canary fluttering around his fingers, and subsequently he always whistled when he worked.

When Ravilious died on active service as a war artist in 1942, at the age of 39, he had already achieved remarkable success. His short but spectacular career is described in a full-length introduction, which also sets his achievements in the context of the interwar years. Accompanying each illustration, meanwhile, is an extended caption designed to illuminate the engraving in an informative and entertaining way. In a manner familiar to readers of Ravilious in Pictures, author James Russell sets out to discover the places that inspired Ravilious, explore the remarkable books he illustrated and meet the people he portrayed. Ravilious: Wood Engravings is both a collection of beautiful, surprising pictures and an entertaining portrait of a wonderful artist and his world.

If you would like to order a copy of Ravilious: Wood Engravings, or require any further details, please contact Liz or Tim at The Mainstone Press on 01362 688395 or email info@themainstonepress.com.