FOUR STARS FOR TIRZAH GARWOOD!

 

Tirzah Garwood, untitled embroidery (woman watering)

It's always gratifying to get some press for an exhibition, but the reviews of Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious have been particularly enjoyable. Writers seem to have enjoyed coming face to face with an artist they haven't really seen before, and to have been affected by Garwood's peculiar magic as I was and as visitors to the gallery seem to be. We're not making claims about greatness or saying art should be this and not that... we've simply put up works by an artist the world (we feel) will be better for knowing, and said, 'Come and have a look.' I admire Jenny Scott and staff at Dulwich for doing that, and Garwood's family too. Links to articles below - some unfortunately behind a paywall.

'Joyous, curious, inventive and droll,' Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious reviewed by Laura Cumming in The Observer

'How the Forgotten Art of Tirzah Garwood finally came to Light' Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious preview by Rachel Cooke for The Observer

'Varied and visionary', Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious reviewed by Florence Hallett in The i

'In from the Cold,' Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious preview by Florence Hallett for The Art Newspaper

'So much more than "Mrs Eric Ravilious"', Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious preview by Laura Freeman in The Times

'The mother of invention,' Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious reviewed by Daisy Dawnay for World of Interiors 

Tirzah Garwood: Lost and Found, review by Sarah Hyde for Airmail

The Magic of Tirzah Garwood, review by Mathew Lyons for Engleberg Ideas

Framing Art History's Most Famous Friendships - and Fall-outs, Ruth Millington for New York Observer

Tirzah Garwood's English Satires, review by Michael Podger for The New Statesman

'Tirzah Garwood: unveiling a forgotten visionary', my introduction for ArtUK

Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious is at Dulwich Picture Gallery until May 2025. Have a look at the Bloomberg Connects app for some extras!

TIRZAH GARWOOD LECTURE NEWS!

Tirzah Garwood, Erskine Returning at Dawn, 1950, oil on canvas

I'm thrilled that my exhibition Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious will be opening at Dulwich Picture Gallery on 19 November. It's been a fascinating journey since I suggested the show to them three or so years ago, not least because so little study has been made of Garwood's work before. Her life is quite well-documented, thanks to her autobiography Long Live Great Bardfield (written 1942 and after, but only published recently) and to Margy Kinmonth's film Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War. But few outside a close circle of family, friends and fans know her wood engravings, marbled papers, model house constructions and paintings at all well.

So it's been exciting to bring together eighty-plus of these works (along with ten by her first husband, Eric Ravilious) and arrange them in what I hope is a helpful way. I've been wanting to do this for a long time, and in 2018 did bring together Garwood and Ravilious in my exhibition In Relation: Nine Couples who Transformed Modern British Art at RWA Bristol. That experience persuaded me to include a few pertinent wood engravings and watercolours by Ravilious in the first half of the Garwood show; the artists' contrasting approaches to similar motifs are fascinating, and the comparison sheds valuable light on Garwood's creative development.

You'll have an opportunity to get to know Tirzah Garwood a bit better before the exhibition because I'm giving an online lecture on 1 October, which will be recorded and made available to ticket holders for the rest of the month. If you follow the link you should find all the info you need.