People and Connections

Bawden walks in Great Bardfield with fellow artists Walter Hoyle, George Chapman, Laurence Scarfe, Stanley Clifford-Smith, Michael Rothenstein, and Chloe Cheese with her Mother Sheila Robinson, 1956.

Eric Ravilious was busy wood engraving and commuting to teach the skill part time at Eastbourne College of Art , staying with his parents over night there, and lodging with the Blisses when back in London at the weekends, or going to stay at the Brick House with Bawden. In his class was an eighteen year old student of wood engraving called Tirzah Garwood who was eager to break out for her middle class background, even if it meant offending her own Father by marrying Eric Ravilious. Her family did not conceal their indifference's from Ravilious. Tizrah then described Eric as " a smart double-breasted suit, shy and different manners, not unlike those of a curate...he was tall and thin, with a head which jutted out at the back, his eyes were large, light brown or hazel, with long girlish lashes which gave him an appealing look, so that motherly women often offered him cups of tea. This look was only superficial; he wasn't at all really effeminate nor did he need sympathy, though it was true he was inordinately fond of tea"
They were married in July 1930, with Bawden as an awkward best man and with Bliss and Rothenstein in support. In 1932 two years after Ravilious had married, Bawden became the husband of Charlotte Epton, painter, potter and former Royal College of Art student. Bawden's father bought the whole of Brick House for them as a wedding present, and since it was so large and neither couple had children yet, the Bawdens persuaded the Raviliouses to leave London and join them.

The two painters then got to work side by side each day as Tirzah remembered: "the garden and country round Bardfield inspired them both and they competed with one another in conditions of various hardship, such as ghastly weather, or working with the sun bang in their eyes. They painted several pictures very early in the morning from the roof of their house, and on one occasion had to come down, overpowered by the smell of kippers cooking for breakfast. Bawden thought you ought to finish the painting on the spot, but Eric might do half his at home. They always worked very hard and got up early in the morning."

Tirzah acquired quite a reputation as a wood engraver with the Golden Cockerel and Kynoch Presses, and unlike her husband she drew inspiration from modern urban life- a crocodile of school girls, a bored woman in her bedroom, a dog show, or card players for example.
'The Crocodile, 1929, wood engraving.
The two wives colloborated on making marble papers, a craft Charlotte Epton was keen to revive: the papers were then printed by the Curwen Press and sold in London shops. Barnett Freedman (1901-58)a highly skilled draughtsman and also appointed as an official salaried war artist, like Edward Bawden, and a good friend to him, Ravilious and Bliss. All meeting at the Royal College of Art and taught too by Paul Nash he worked for the same patrons as Bawden in their early careers; the Curwen Press, Shell-Max, London Transport, and the Post Office as well as teaching at Ruskin College and back at the RCA.

When Ravilious found out Bawden and Freedman were appointed he wrote to Bawden on the 9th February 1940 "very good luck to you and Barnett on the Western Front, and may you have a smooth channel crossing. Oh how sick i shall be." with a possible added envious comment to end.

Freedman was one of the most skillful draftsmen of his generation and had the rare skill of being able to draw direct onto the litho stone. His 'Circus' poster, printed on two sheets, is a technically complex piece of lithography which made use of the most up to date inks available in 1937.

Below, photograph of Eric Ravilious, Barnett Freedman and John Nash, taken by Christine Nash in 1940.




Chloe Cheese, who has already been an inspiration and interest within my own work, is too connected to the Bardfield Artists. Bernard Cheese who was married to Sheila Robinson were her parents, Chloe Cheese is also a printmaker and illustrator but lived in Great Bardfield in the 1950s. Her father studied at the Royal College of Art, where he was influenced by Edwin La Dell, and his work often contains the same quirky humour that is also recognisable in Edward Bawden's work. The photographs below were of her work seen in the Fry Art Gallery where her work was too exhibited alongside Bawden, Ravilious and other artists i saw.


John Aldridge became a close friend of Edward Bawdens' after he moved to Great Bardfield in the Essex countryside into 'placehouse'. The two of them both loved their cats, and rather shy men happiest painting or gardening so were well suited with one another living next door to each other. Soon Aldridge and Bawden collaborated on making wallpaper designs together 'Bardfield Wallpapers' during the later 30s, Bawden previously attempting this in 1927 and onwards but they failed to sell. These newly designed papers were then distributed by 'Cole and Sons' a British Wallpaper company. The wallpaper designs were initially sold throughout 1938 and 1939. However, the Second World War put an end to all wallpaper production, as paper mills were diverted into the war effort and both Aldridge and Bawden were recruited, with Aldridge joining the Intelligence Corps and Bawden becoming a war artist.

Manchester Met University Archives

A first visit to the Manchester Met University Library, i will be going again due to such an expansive collection i saw there, books both original and copies, prints, posters, large size books that are difficult or expensive to get hold of and a brilliant source of first hand information. I am also hoping to visit again to see some of the ceramics and Bawdens' patterned papers and hear some information about them from a worker there.

For now i have added some photographs that i managed to get in a small time scale, further time is needed in order to sort through and select the right information and most relevant, however it was a great trip and fully worthwhile. The workers there were particularly helpful and eager to show me as much as they could.







Apart from a few short interludes most of Bawdens' paintings over a period of nearly 10 years were done in Essex, within the radius of Great Bardfield. Subjects being his own, houses, gardens, the village streets seen from windows or fields. Bawden was always finding inexhaustible fresh subjects, and always had a strong liking for peculiar plants and gardening when not painting.

Ravilious and Bawden concentrate on the typical aspects of country life. Both favouring muted colours such as sepias, browns, blues, greys and ochres. Norbert Lynton; "What joins them is the sense of craft as well as their strong roots in the English scene. But where Bawden is muscular and summary, Ravilious is delicate and precise, bulldog versus greyhound."

The Christmas Bookshop, and advertising insert for the December 1924 edition of the 'studio' was one of the earliest published designs drawn and signed by both Ravilious and Bawden whilst students at the Royal College of Art.





Bawden took a step from watercolour to engraving his compositions onto copper. He exploited the coloured lino-block to its best advantage for his designs. His wallpapers were subtle, fresh and beautiful, vignettes and borders poured from his originative imagination.









Similarly to how i take an interest in working Eric Ravilious often does so in a smaller scale to Bawden and its medium was either delicate and exact or supportive of a text or a manufactured object. In all of these fields his approach was broadly traditional, and his work addressed neither political or social issues. A connection to Ravilious whom he admired was the watercolorists David Jones, and at that similar time in the 1920s his work became more detailed and elaborated than it became in his great last ten years.

The Fry Art Gallery Safron Walden, Essex

After Eastbourne i then travelled to the Fry Art Gallery which was established in 1985 and is situated in Saffron Walden, Essex. The collection holds paintings, drawings, lithographs, ceramics, and illustrated books by artists who lived in and around the village of Great Bardfield from the 1930s to the early 1970s. More than thirty artists are represented including Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden, whom i am researching and other closer connecting artists; Micheal Rothenstein, Kenneth Rowntree, John Aldridge and Bernard Cheese.The Bardfield artists shared a feeling for the character of everyday life in the English countryside. With a close bond between their artistic vision and the landscape of North West Essex at that time. The significance of this locally rooted group of artists can now be better appreciated and one of the Fry Art Gallery's aims is to increase the awareness of their work. Similarly one of the main objectives of my own research to find out these happenings and then present them further in my own style for others to be aware of.






The quirky and engaging exhibition space held the work brilliantly. With three main areas to the entire space, each brimmed full of work, two the main gallery rooms and the Bawden Room containing ceramics and book illustrations.

Lithographs from Life in an English Village (1949)-Edward Bawden
The book of this title by Noel Carrington appeared in the King Penguin series in 1949. It contains 16 lithographs all accurately drawn of Great Bardfield, and illustrating the breadth of activity and shops in the village.



Aesop's Fables-Edward Bawden
Bawden executed eight in this series in 1970 to join an existing one done in 1956. The Fry Art Gallery managed to get hold of these in 2006 off the Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers, with assistance from the Art Fund and the V&A Purchase Fund, five of them in one sale, and they joined two already in the collection. In July they then further purchased one more, but are still searching for the "Ant & Grasshopper" to complete the set.






All of the works on one particular wall, the furthest end of the building were by Edward Bawden (1903-1989). Bawden perhaps has the greatest influence of the artists represented in this Collection, through his understanding of design, as a printmaker, and teacher. His diverse interest and talents in design, watercolour, lino-cuts, wallpaper design, posters, advertisements, book illustrations and mural decoration are well represented among the 500 items of his in the permanent collection. These images show Bawden as a printmaker, both in linocut and lithography.

Autumn (1950)
This copy which originally belonged to the artist's friend Sheila Robinson, also has a note on it recording that this print had won the prestigious Giles Award that year. This award gave Bawden additional pleasure because the previous year's award had been won by Micheal Rothenstein and may explain why that artist went to the trouble of adding the note. Familiar landmarks of Great Bardfield appear in the background.



The Blue Tractor (1962)
This is one of the representations of Saffron Walden market, held on Tuesdays, and when the blue tractor and plough were regularly parked there by a local agricultural machinery firm. As each colour is individually applied to each print, variations can be introduced by the Bawden.


Brighton Pier (1977)
Apart from its double size image this, and the one of Liverpool Street, demonstrate the skill needed in simplifying complex iron structures so that their scale and overall impression is still conveyed, while at the same time every detail is registered in such a way that the six different printings for each colour can be successfully accomplished. The overall design uses collaged images at the two sides to good effect .

Liverpool Street Station (1960)
Bawden always had an eye for detail in ironwork, and other similar decorative designs, and here the roof of Liverpool St Station, which in 1960 was still substantially hidden by layers of soot from steam trains, is given prominence.

Saffron Walden Church or Church & Thunderstorm, Saffron Walden (1975)
The church spire, under restoration, is caught in a graphic representation of a violent thunderstorm, executed with breathe taking dexterity. A number of art dictionaries refer to Bawden as being best known as a book illustrator, but from looking at these prints and other work first hand i agree that there is a greater breadth to Edward Bawden than just book illustration.




A very British snow scene by Edward Bawden, depicting children tobogganing outside the artist's home in 1955.


Eric Ravilious too taught by Paul Nash and a life long friend to Bawden achieved great success and recognition in the fields of design, wood engraving, mural decoration, and water colour. His death in a flying accident while a War Artist, curtailed a career of exceptional promise. Exhibitions and publications during 2003, his centenary year, established his name firmly in the forefront of 20th century English artist.

Hull's Mill, Sible Hedingham, watercolour, (1935)
Hull's Mill was a working flourmill situated near Castle Hedingham where the artist had moved in 1934 . The painting shows his, and one of my personal loves towards these watercolours; his characteristic limited palette, his facility and joy with pastoral scenes and the usual suggestion of human (yet absent) presence in the form of the stacked sacks awaiting collection, and the coned exhaust pipe for the diesel engine that we know had been recently installed to the power the mill. Ravilious' range of painting techniques are presented, like in his use of dry brush marks on the left side of the hedge, wet colour base with a darker colour added subsequently on the right side hedge and scraping the paper to bring back the white, seen on the roadway.

Acanthus leaves in a Jug, watercolour, 1938/39
As seen in some of the photographs i have later added in this blog, a similar design which may be connected can be seen in the "Garden Implements" done for Wedgwood in 1939. Incorporating this into the design using a vignette of lines and motifs for the decoration.



Two Cows, Watercolour, 1935
This was probably painted at the same time as Hull's Mill as both were sold as an exhibition at the Zwemmer Gallery, London in 1936, and reflects the artists interest in aspects of rural life. Is is unusual in featuring animals, and has the "feel" that is could have been easily converted into a print.

Bawden and Ravilious both exhibited at the Zwemmer Gallery at an early stage of their thought lives, and Bawden claimed he had never succeeded as much as that, selling everything.
1938- Eric Newton, foremost critic of the time was impressed that Bawden had broken all the text book rules for watercolours "the result is that they are neither slick nor charming nor french. They are dry and worried and patchy. But they are immensely serious" .


Demonstrating a Machine Gun, watercolour and pencil (1942)
This was executed at RAF Sawbridgeworth in the months before Ravilous died in an air accident over Iceland. The sketch of the missing group is in the Towner Gallery, Eastbourne, and the artist intended to add them in his studio once he had completed the watercolour on site. It affords an interesting demonstration of the artist's working methods. It originally belonged to his friend, the artist Peggy Angus.

The Attic Bedroom, Great Bardfield, watercolour, (1932-4)
This dates from the time that Ravilious and Bawden and their wives were occupying Brick House. Previously as bachelors the two artists had rented half of it for weekends, and an opportunity to paint. On his marriage in 1932 Bawden acquired all of it, and the two couples shared it until the Ravilious's moved to Castle Hedingham in 1934. The attic, shown here, carries a number of interesting associations,- the lifebelt may have been left behind by the previous owener, a retired stewardess on a liner; the cacti were collected by Bawden and the whole scene demonstrates the usual absence of destinct human presence that characterised the artist's work up until war years. This room, when compared with others is unusually full of objects. Evidence of previous pencil drawing before watercolour can also be seen on close examination.





One particular wall showed Eric Ravilious' lithographs, a submarine series made by himself whilst at the HMS Dolphin in 1941 while he was working as an official war artist. He died the following year aged 39, and so his early years of promise in watercolour and ceramic design were prematurely stopped. In most of his pre-war watercolours the human form is absent, but in the submarine series the very close proximity of the commander and crew in the conning tower, control room and ward room imposed their presence on the artist.This is also apparent in his other sketches like the one captioned above.

The series
Introductory Drawing
Different Aspects of Submarines
Commander and Periscope
Diver
Working Controls While Submerged
Diving Controls, no.1
Working Controls While Submerged
Testing Davis Equipment
Ward Room, no.2
Ward Room, no.1













Above and below i have added some of my collected photographs from the visit, showing the various prints, books, ceramics and lithographs that i saw. Additionally i was in love with the situation that is Saffron Walden, individual and decorative buildings, houses, the church, shops and the creative picturesque atmosphere that was apparent throughout the small streets.