Alan Powers (2) (1955–)

Following my reading of Sybil and Cyril by Jenny Uglow and Romantic Moderns by Alexandra Harris, this is a beautifully illustrated monograph of another English artist/illustrator of the inter-war years.
The text is interesting, providing some historical and biographical background, but concentrating on the art, and it is the numerous illustrations that make this book worthwhile.
Reading a whole book about Ravilious hasn’t been an artistic revelation, as I have already seen illustrations of what I still consider to be the most memorable and impactful works. However the author has done an excellent job of showing the different mediums in which Ravilious worked, woodcuts and watercolours are expected, but there are also murals (now mainly lost), designs for Wedgewood Potteries, fabric designs and even furniture.

For me, Ravilious’ most engaging picture is the watercolour Train Landscape from 1939, with the chalk Westbury Horse seen through a railway carriage window. It surprised me to realise that the picture only measures about 44cm x 55cm. However seeing illustrations of so much work by Ravilious, the consistent emotional detachment of the art became very evident as you are exposed to the repeated absence or simplification of human figures. But this detachment can also create a nostalgic, timeless quality, even when the landscape is anchored with contemporary (now historical) objects.

A 2013 Guardian review which I think captures something of what I feel:
[Ravilious] remains the artist of the empty landscape and the uninhabited room, of a transient period in national life when the old and the new could still, just, be reconciled – even if he did have to create a parallel imaginative reality in which to do it.… (mehr)

This title has been on my "maybe" shelf for years; the shelf serves for books I need to think about, need more information on, or books I'm only going to buy if I find them used and cheap. Living with Books met that last condition, as I'd heard it was a bit disappointing overall.

I'd heard correctly; it's a bit disappointing. The pictures are great - some really clever solutions and some just gorgeous libraries are included, but the text has less to do with books and libraries than it does about interior design and architectural theory, about which I have mostly derisive opinions.

I gave it an extra half-star though because it includes a few pages at the back with DIY instructions for making different types of bookcases, and I thought that was a nice touch. For that reason and the good pics, I'll hang on to my copy, but I'm awfully glad I found it used and cheap.… (mehr)