Great Bardfield and Beyond: A Working Landscape

Great Bardfield was described by Olive Cook as ‘paradisial’ in her book about the North West Essex Artists. But Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious, who initially settled there in 1931 had a rather different view. They saw the countryside as a working landscape and a place where they could develop their watercolours. Later, Bawden attracted other artists to Bardfield and nearby villages. They too found a sympathetic countryside, and their homes became became their studios. They took the Jennings bus to London where a number were teaching part-time in art schools. By the 1970s, when Bawden moved to Saffron Walden, the community was largely dispersed.

This exhibition includes artists as diverse as Bawden and Ravilious, John Aldridge, Michael Rothenstein, Walter Hoyle, Anne Rothenstein, Keith Vaughan, George and Katie Chapman, Tirzah Garwood, Olive Cook, Edwin Smith and others.  All of them responded to the landscape, buildings, farming and village communities they saw around them.

The exhibition is sponsored by Sworders Fine at auctioneers