Paul Nash

Renowned for his World War I and II paintings, which revealed the brutal effects of war with devastating honesty, Paul Nash is also revered as a pioneer of Modernism. He founded Unit One in 1933 in order to promote avant-garde art in Britain; its members included Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, and Henry Moore. Nash served as an official war artist for the British Government during both World Wars. Spring in the Trenches, Ridge Wood (1917-18) reveals the semi-abstract style, influenced by Cubism, that he adapted during World War I. In the interwar years, Nash painted seascapes and landscapes including Equivalents for the Megaliths (1935) in cool yet vibrant shades. He is particularly celebrated for his work in World War II with Battle of Germany (1944), which gives the war-torn landscapes and mangled machinery a mythical, dreamlike appearance. Paintings from his later years often feature flowers, referencing mythology and the seasons.