Paul Nash

This book examines the career of Paul Nash, official war artist and one of the great pioneers of British Modernism. David Fraser Jenkins interprets the artist’s work according to theme and visual symbolism, bringing together paintings from different periods, and considering how the artist took elements from the visual world and recreated them within the terms of modern art. Here, the richly ambiguous word ‘element’ refers not just to the four traditional elements but, more loosely, it denotes anything natural and fundamental that seems basic to nature. Throughout his career, Nash treated various ‘elements’ as visual symbols and thus developed recurring themes such as conflict, refuge and harmony. David Fraser Jenkins explores these themes in the book’s principal essay. There are additional essays by David Boyd Haycock on the influence of Thomas Browne and by Simon Grant on Nash’s legacy in the contemporary art world. Paul Nash: The Elements accompanied an exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery, curated by the author. It includes 57 paintings and watercolours, each with an accompanying text. There are also 15 of Nash’s own photographs, and 27 comparative illustrations.