…sea themes in the work of artist Eric Ravilious [1903 - 1942]
The artist Eric Ravilious is generally known for his work portraying the chalky South Downs of England. Here on Seamagic, we’re more interested in the maritime aspects of his work, however. So it was a pleasure to see that there had been a great find on Colwyn Bay Pier. Despite layers of paint and plaster and a good deal of neglect in the Tea Rooms, it seems the original mural by Ravilious and Mary Adshead survives.
Only a small patch of the Art Deco mural has been revealed so far – but it’s the only one of the artist’s murals left. From Mary Adshead’s own account, we know it had a maritime theme. It would be lovely to see it restored – the black and white images we have don’t do it justice. Some idea of his colours can be seen here:
Detail of a mural by Eric Ravilious in the Midland Hotel, Morecambe. The photograph, by Don McPhee, was taken in 2003, before restoration of the hotel.
Sadly this maritime mural was lost due to problems with the plaster peeling.
But it’s not just murals that express a maritime theme in Ravilious’ artwork. He was a war artist and made some fine images of life on board submarines.
Here’s a lithograph of Newhaven Harbour that really shows his light-hearted and stylish approach.
Sadly there’s even a maritime connection to his death: he died whilst on an Air Sea Rescue mission off the coast of Iceland in the course of his duties as an official War Artist.
The post Murals and the maritime… appeared first on Seamagic.
