Paul Nash

Book excerpt: Exploring the ways in which painting, applied design and illustration intertwined over the course of the accomplished career of Paul Nash (1889-1946), this book provides a new perspective on one of the most gifted and celebrated English artists of the twentieth century. Skilfully navigating the diversity of Nash's design output, which drew in illustration, book jackets, posters, set design, pattern papers, fabrics, glass, ceramics and photography, in the context of Nash's painting and wider pre-occupations, James King presents an artist who strove to resolve his artistic vision. With Nash's work informed by seismic shifts within the visual arts during his lifetime - from the influence of the Arts and Crafts Movement on the one hand, to Surrealism and Abstraction on the other - this fascinating book reveals the considerable gifts that allowed Nash to create a wholly original vision in turn.