Tate Britain's Paul Nash Exhibition review – pain, uncertainty with a glimmer of hope

A surrealist journey though the dark days of World War 2, expressed through the eyes of significant British painter Paul Nash. But are they historical facts or terrifying nightmares?

Steph Duncan

30 November 2016

9:00am

Often referred to as the "most individual British artists of his period"1, Kensington born landscape painter Paul Nash tells the story of many Britain's living through a life changing war and how it messes with the reality and unconcious mind of it's victims. Inspired by the equinox, moon phases and his deep attachment to the English countryside2, Nash expresses his feelings and memories towards the Second World War with a heap of surreal twists.

On entering the exhibition, an eerie bubble was cast over me, allowing the paintings to speak for themselves against a plain teal background. The layout already suggested a chronological order in which to view the paintings, therefore I start from the beginning, where else.

My eyes initially drawn to "The Pyramids in the Sea", 19123

as you observe the refined distinctive black and white palette, the

1 http://artuk.org/discover/artists/nash-paul-18891946

2 http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/paul-nash

3 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/nash-the-pyramids-in-the-sea-t01821

One of Nash’s first imaginative drawings. “The Pyramids in the Sea”, 1912. Ink and watercolour on paper.

One of a few in Nash’s sunflower series, a showstopper. “Solstice of the Sunflower.” 1945.Oil painting on canvas.

textures and tone are shown off brilliantly against colour scheme of the walls, reaffirming the mood of the paintings and pleasantly complimenting the tones and texture of the work hanging in the foreground. With the combination of ink and watercolour together and can feel the viciousness of the waves, as if you were a man at sea, riding the waves in a boat heading towards the stability of the pyramids. Looking more closely at the piece, you detect aspects of Surrealism, anticipating the mood for his later works. It would seem Nash already has aspects of various art movements, even before their time. I’m already intrigued and eager for more; soon to find, as I enter each room, I also enter a new art movement, where the next stage of Nash's life unfolds.

On entering the second room, we embark on a war zone, detecting a sense of pain and uncertainty from the paintings, leaving me emotionless for a moment as I don't know how to react to the scenes of terror in front or my eyes. Rather than focusing my attention on the large paintings, I prefer to admire the detail of the small pieces, however horror striking they may be. You can still see a true darkness in the paintings; with no doubt a reflection of the mood of the war with glimmers or light as the picture reveals tinges of earthy colours of greens, blues and browns, combined with intense crosshatch ink strokes in "Tench Pond in a Gale", 1921-2. Even in all of this despair, it makes me chuckle when I notice the rain in the background of the piece. Where else would rain feature in a painting, only in Britain.

We enter a new era and the beginnings of abstract in the third room, as we witness a mixture of Post Impressionism and Cubist movements as Paul seems to be concentrating on his own artistic visions rather than merely painting what he sees, with variations of rushed oil paintings with ink, outlining the great emotions expressed and well thought out, geometric shapes of “Winter Sea”, 1925-3. The colour isn't as intense as those of Cubist Paul

Cezanne, but has the same semi abstract, jiggered shapes of “Mont Saint-Victoire”, 1904.

While I didn’t take much from the piece itself, The “Wood on the Downs”, 19304 is complemented well with the enchanting wood engravings taking centre stage in the 3rd room. Presenting a life after death of plants; harmoniously displaying the endless uses of wood itself and how they can be used to create beautiful things long after their expiry date. After the devastating events of the war, it is important to make the best of what you still have, rather than dwell on the disaster, which Paul Nash demonstrated by creating fantastically detailed, yet simple shapes on his small wooden canvas.

Nash painted at least two dozen pictures of the Dymchurch coast in the 1920's,5 in both oil and watercolour, finding the geometric shapes and flattened form of the sea and groins quite therapeutic. “The Shore”, 1923 may have helped him overcome the nervous strain of the war creating stability in his life, which he may not have felt in a while. Could this be why many of the Supremacists and constructivists embraced the geometric shapes too, in order to find peace and to bring life their utopian ideas? Why not create peace for yourself.

4 http://jamesrussellontheweb.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/paul-nash-in-pictures-wood-on-downs.html

5 http://jamesrussellontheweb.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/paul-nash-rye-dymchurch-iden.html

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Completed after the death of his father, this cubist inspired, "Dead Spring", 19296 is very similar to those of Pablo Picasso or George Braque, Musical Forms, 1912 however with an organic still life of a potted plant. The ruler alongside the plant I feel expresses the "artist as mathematician", gaining some control over his organic life and creating juxtaposition between the organic and the man made. Funny how once again, mortifying experiences bring out creative ideas.

The next couple of rooms felt like a blur. At this point, I felt like I was trying to like the work I was seeing, as it is quite repetitive with the pale colour palette taking its place in each picture. In room with other artists, I'm honestly drawn more to their work. Not because I don't like Nash's work, but because I want to see something new, exciting and different, something which Eileen Agar, a British Surrealist7 brought out. A refreshing new mixed media style with "Woman Reading, 1936" uses a combination of natural and man-made objects, similar ideas to Paul's however presented as a collage. I rather enjoyed this alternative work style, as I do enjoy collage work myself, and believed formed a stepping stone for the next period of Paul’s work. Surrealism.

“Landscapes of the Megaliths”, 1934 uses imagery in rocks, a technique very much associated with Salvador Dali’s Surrealist paintings. “Equivalents for the Megaliths”, 1935 featured on many of the posters at the Tate for this exhibition uses objects of dramatic sizes in a familiar farmers field, creating disturbing alterations to a recognisable landscape unusual in the real world,

6 http://artuk.org/discover/artworks/dead-spring-70498

7 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/eileen-agar-633

similar to those of Rene Magritte. If this is supposed to be the showstopper of the exhibition then to be quite frank, I am unfortunately disappointed, to my understanding and knowledge every Surrealist has their own ideas and way of looking at the world however it seems Paul Nash has done his fair amount of research, making me question whether his ideas are his own.

Other surrealist paintings grab my attention more such as "Landscape from a Dream”, 1936-88 which even from the name, and if you have knowledge of the Surrealist art movement and their "fascination with Freud's theories of the power of dreams [revealing] the unconscious”, you know this piece isn't from a memory, but from an alternate reality. Paul uses the same pale colours, making the painting looks striking familiar. It's only when you wake from a dream that you realise something is actually strange. The piece is explained that the elements of the piece where symbolic, with the hawk represented the material world, while the spheres reflected in the mirror refer to the soul, the inner being. Landscape from a Dream forms a combination of his early

8 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/nash-landscape-from-a-dream-n05667

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“Landscape from a Dream”, 1936-8. Marks the beginning of Nash’s personal response to Surrealism.

coastal works, with a modern twist. This is what I was waiting for, Nash’s own take on surrealism.

"Totes Meer” or “Dead Sea", 1940-1, refers to a sea of crashed planes. Reverting back to his earlier paintings, reviving them with colour and life, I say this ironically, as this picture is based on photographs showing a dump of fallen aircrafts, expressing nothing but motionless death. Ever though this piece is without a doubt Surrealistic, I can see aspects of a natural subject matter based art craze, Japonisme, in particular, "The Great Wave", and Nash's pale colour palette.

On a more positive note, the exhibition lets you leave feeling hopeful, with a piece which I was convinced was as deconstructed Van Gogh's painting, the "Solstice of the Sunflower, 1945" the last of Nash’s painting before he died was rather beautiful. A sunflower, a symbol of happiness, good luck,

long life and energy, lets us see Nash's mood has peaked and there is in fact hope at the war was coming to an end, finally reaching those pyramids after a vicious journey on the rough sea. His love of nature prevailed, and thoughts even on death seemed good.9 I couldn't think of a better way to end the exhibition myself, a real shame if you were to miss out on such a heartfelt adventure.

Paul Nash is at the Tate Britain, London until 5th March 2017

9 http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-liverpool/exhibition/paul-nash/paul-nash-modern-artist-ancient-landscape-room-guide-7

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“Totes Meer”, 1940-41, the title German for ‘Dead Sea’, inspired by a dumped of wrecked aircraft in Oxfordshire. Oil paint on canvas.