Eric Ravilious

Description	Artist, designer and illustrator
Dates	1903 - 1942
Lived/Worked	Sussex and Wales

Best known for...

Ravilious is best known for his watercolours, although he also had a reputation as a fine and original wood engraver.
During the second world war he became an official war artist

Why is he important?

He was not only a painter of watercolours and murals, but also a book illustrator in wood engraving and lithography, and a designer of transfer-ware pottery. He applied a dry and precise style of working to imaginative and romantic subject matter. In February 1940, his appointment among the first group of Official War Artists was confirmed, and he was assigned to the Royal Navy.

He was among a small élite group of artists employed as official war artist on a salaried basis, rather than being paid for individual works.

Historical context

Ravilious attended the Royal collage of Art, where he studied under Paul Nash who is famous for his water colour paintings of the first world war. Ravilious observed and recorded the relationship between the modern world and the English landscape in a style that was both formal and yet deeply felt, and at a pivital time in history.

How to see their work

In London you can find Ravilious Artwork at the Tate Britain and the Imperial War Museum
His work can also be found at the Towner Art Gallery and Local History Museum in Eastbourne.

Address Manor Gardens/High Street, Old Town, Eastbourne, East Sussex

Eric Ravilious on the web