Eric Ravilious: Greenhouse Watercolors

Posted on | June 14, 2011 | 4 Comments

The Greenhouse: Cyclamen and Tomatoes

I’m still in full obsession mode for Eric Ravilious. Yesterday I shared a few photos of his pieces for Wedgwood spotted at Andrew Spindler’s shop in Essex, Ma.

Above “The Greenhouse: Cyclamen and Tomatoes” (1935) was recently picked as a top ten favorite watercolor by the Observer’s art critic. Laura Cumming writes,

Ravilious’s greenhouse has the atmosphere of a dream. Everything is in perfect order, yet there is no sign of a gardener, unless perhaps God? Door opens on to door, on to door. The perspective is pristine, the painting so clear, light and symmetrical in both form and content, the white paper burning through the foliage like sunlight. It is the greenhouse from paradise. Ravilious is the lost genius of British art: his plane crashed over Iceland during the second world war. His body was never found.

“The Greenhouse: Cyclamen and Tomatoes” will be on display at the Tate Britian as part of the Watercolour exhibit through August 2011. Below “Cucumber House” included in Ravilious’s Greenhouse series painted in 1935. The watercolors can also be purchased as a giclee prints through artrepublic.com.

Cucumber House

Category: affordable artwork, artist

Spotted: Eric Ravilious For Wedgwood

Posted on | June 13, 2011 | 5 Comments

I’m realizing I have serious crush on Eric Ravilious. I spotted a platter with a sailboat back in 2008, fell in love with his landscapes last spring and over the weekend came across a collection of pieces Ravilious did for Wedgwood at Andrew Spindler’s shop in Essex, Massachusetts.

Eric Ravilious born London in 1903 began his career as a muralist. He studied at Eastbourne School of Art and at the Royal College of Art. He studied under Paul Nash and became friends with Edward Bawden. Ravilious’s watercolors and woodcuts gained him significant attention in 1924. He went on to design earthenware pieces for Wedgwood depicting a garden series and my favorite Persephone or Harvest designed in 1938 and then produced in 1952.

When I happened upon Ravilious’s work on Sunday I wondered why his pieces stop me in my tracks and makes we want to buy every piece obsessively? The colors are outstanding but the imagery is so simple and clever. When I was remarking on the plates with Andrew we talked about how the plates would be just as beautiful with or without the center motif. But together the combination is stunning.

So how do you get your hands on a few pieces of your own? Andrew Spindler seems to be the only collector I know of stateside. Of course there is always ebay, auctions etc. You can learn more about Ravilious pieces he did for Wedgwood in this book. Or call Andrew; he’s very knowledgeable and can help you start a collection of your own. I had a hard time resisting the nine pieces he had available of Persephone for $375.

Also, be sure to read this write up about Ravilious in the Guardian and check out this exhibit at Fry Art Gallery till August in Essex (England not Massachusetts). And if you can stomach the shipping from the UK pick up Ravilious in Pictures: A Country Life by James Russell, the third book in a series depicting his watercolors.

Andrew Spindler
163 Main Street
Essex, Massachusetts
(978) 768-6045
spindlerantiques.com

Category: artist, massachusetts, tabletop

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