JOHN NASH
watercolours of trees, the light
feathery treatment of foliage is
sometimes achieved by washing
colour over areas of chalk.
But it is far too limiting to
pigeonhole him simply as a modern-
day exemplar of the great tradition
of English watercolour. There is also
an allied notion, an erroneous and
somewhat caricatural view of him,
as a humble, unthinking countryman,
a reclusive and anti-social being living
in the middle of nowhere. This
couldn’t be more wrong.
Aside from an active social life,
John’s pattern of existence, until age
and infirmity curtailed it, was decidedly
peripatetic. He loved to paint the
countryside on his doorstep, but he
also travelled widely in Britain, from
Dorset to Scotland and from Norfolk
to Wales, and he painted all the
places he visited. He relished parties
and enjoyed a hectically complicatedprivate life involving numerous lovers.
Yes, he enjoyed country pursuits such
as fishing and gardening, but he was
also an active member of the Royal
Academy of Arts, treating the
premises in Piccadilly as a kind of
club in which to meet friends, as well
as to discuss Academy business.
He also enjoyed drawing ports, as
The Dredgers, Bristol Docks, makes
clear. What an opportunity to organise
and paint a variety of shapes,
abutting and overlapping in a rolling
continuum of visual incident.
John always bought good quality
paints because he didn’t want his
pictures to fade or deteriorate. He was
typically modest when asked about
himself and would always prefer not
to talk about his art. But occasionally
he could be persuaded, as when
interviewed for a film about his life
and work. He remarked self-
deprecatingly but realistically:“I’m not a brilliant colourist”, and even
admitted that he felt deprived of more
violent colours, presumably by
temperament. He said he used two
blues (Cobalt and Permanent Blue),
Viridian with Yellow Ochre, Venetian
Red and Devon Red. He commented:
“A limited palette serves one’s end.”
Like his friends Cedric Morris and
John Aldridge, John was a successful
self-taught artist and he had a
remarkable gift for teaching himself,
since he had achieved a high degree
of proficiency on the piano in this way,
also acquiring mastery in the difficult
art of wood engraving. There is an
understated grandeur to the best of
John’s art which belies all the hard
work, but amply repays close study.
It is time his work was reassessed.
Andrew’s monograph, John Nash: Artist
& Countryman, is published in October
by Unicorn Publishing (RRP £40).
http://www.unicornpublishing.orgBELOW The
Dredgers, Bristol
Docks, c.1924,
oil on canvas,
66.7x85cmSWINDON MUSEUM & ART GALLERY/© THE ESTATE OF JOHN NASH