New Eric Ravilious space at Towner Eastbourne
The much-loved British artist Eric Ravilious (1903-19420) is the subject of a dedicated, bespoke space at Towner Eastbourne this autumn.
Towner has long been the custodian of the largest collection of works by Ravilious, and this new space will create the definitive Ravilious experience for general visitors and scholars alike, building upon the gallery’s extensive work and research into the artist and his contemporaries.
Featuring an expanded display of more than 100 of Ravilious’ works from the Towner Collection, the new space will showcase the prodigious output of one of Eastbourne’s most celebrated artists, as well as works by Ravilious’ wife Tirzah Garwood and some of his closest friends and peers, including Edward Bawden and Peggy Angus. The Ravilious Collection is set to be the most extensive ongoing display of Eric Ravilious’ works anywhere.
The Ravilious Collection gallery will trace Eric Ravilious’ life and celebrate the breadth of his career from his early days as a student and later a teacher at Eastbourne School of Art, to his work as a war artist which ultimately resulted in his early death in service at the age of 39. The gallery will highlight Ravilious’ unique connection to Eastbourne and will feature some of his best loved works, including local landscapes Cuckmere Havenand Beachy Head (both 1939) and will showcase the rarely seen work Mackerel Sky (1938), which is on long term loan to the Towner Collection having recently been rediscovered after many years in a private home.
As well as some of the key watercolours, Towner’s broad Ravilious collection also includes examples of his woodblocks and prints, preparatory drawings, publications and ceramics. He began wood engraving while still a student at the Royal College of Art and many of his early prints which can be seen in the gallery, including Sussex Church(1924), Boy Birdnesting (1927) and Manor Gardens (1927), were inspired by Eastbourne and its surrounding landscape.
These will be shown alongside some of the hand-cut wood blocks from which the prints are taken, giving visitors an insight into Ravilious’ incredible skill as a wood engraver and into the printing process itself.
The gallery will also showcase the original design for the Morley College Murals (painted by Ravilious and Edward Bawden in the refreshment room of Morley College, London between 1928 and 1930), which has been recently gifted to the Towner Collection under HM Government’s Cultural Gifts scheme. This design illustrates Ravilious’ affinity to the local Sussex landscape and how he repeatedly used local imagery throughout his design work.
Towner’s long history of collecting Ravilious’ work began during his lifetime, with the gallery acting as an early champion of his work, purchasing two watercolour paintings, including Dolly Engine (1934), which will be shown in the new gallery, from his earliest solo exhibition at Zwemmers gallery in the 1930s.
The Ravilious Collection space will also incorporate Towner’s Collection Library, featuring books relating to Ravilious and other Collection artists, as well as providing a quiet study area. Visitors will also be able to view a new loan to Towner of a private collection of rare publications relating to Ravilious and his contemporaries.
Towner has a strong ongoing relationship with Ravilious’ surviving family who have placed many of their own Ravilious works on long-term loan with the gallery. Eric Ravilious and Tirzah Garwood’s daughter Anne Ullman said: “It makes me so happy to see my father’s work being celebrated in this new gallery at the Towner, and I am delighted that my mother‘s pictures and that of their friends will also be exhibited. My father’s watercolours were inspired by his love of the downs and my mother’s satirical engravings by her life in the town. Thank you to Towner for masterminding this imaginative new exhibition space.”
Towner’s Head of Collections & Exhibitions Sara Cooper said: “We know how much Towner’s audiences love the work of Eric Ravilious; whether long-standing fans who travel great distances to see our collection, or those who have discovered him for the first time by chance on a visit to Eastbourne. Despite holding the largest public collection of his work, space and programming constraints have meant that until now we have only been able to showcase a small percentage of our Ravilious collection at one time. This new, dedicated gallery will enable us to show over 100 artworks and objects, giving our visitors the opportunity to delve deeper in Ravilious’ story and learn more about his life, his work, his friends and contemporaries, and crucially how he was inspired by the local landscape.”
Towner’s Director Joe Hill said: “Eastbourne was a huge part of Eric Ravilious’ formative years, somewhere that he kept coming back to throughout his all-too-short life. The town and its surroundings were clearly a huge source of inspiration to him. People travel from all over the world to see the stunning scenery that we’re so lucky to have on our doorstep, and we hope that many of them will complete their trip with a visit to Towner to see these iconic depictions of the Sussex landscape and learn more about one of Eastbourne’s most celebrated residents.”