St James?s Palace, London? by Edward Bawden, 1903-1989

Edward Bawden, 1903-1989
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St James?s Palace, London?

Original linocut printed in colours. c.1962. Signed in ink. Titled by the artist, and numbered from the edition of 75 impressions.
Printed by the artist.

Very fine fresh and strong impression with excellent unfaded colours. On white soft wove paper. Generally extremely fine condition; image and inner margin excellent, two minor repaired nicks in the top sheet edge well outside the image and not visible when mounted.
Sheet: 22 3/8?x28?. Block: 19?x26 1/8? (503x663 mm).

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The hallmark of Edward Bawden?s work is his feeling for a linear expression of form. He uses a pattern of line and colour to express shape, volume and space in a way that is unique amongst British painters of this century. Whilst he worked in many media, predominantly in water-colour, drawing and printmaking, it was in many ways in his prints that his work was at its most creative. For it was in his prints that his use of a pattern of line was particularly expressive, with a rhythm and balance which is strongly appealing to both eye and mind.

Bawden studied at the Royal College of Art in the early 1920?s, and it was there that he met and was greatly influenced by the ideas of Paul Nash, in particular by his feeling for the role of construction and order within a picture. It was also in the mid-1920?s that he first began to work at Curwen Press and to make his first prints in both lithography and linocut. Whilst he was working at Curwen he also formed one of the most important and influential friendships of his life, with Eric Ravilious. Ravilious was another painter with an inspired sense of the way line and shape could be used in both drawing and printmaking and the two artists found their ideas mutually stimulating. From the 1920?s onwards working in printmaking media was to be a central focus of Bawden?s art.

This study of St James?s Palace is absolutely typical of Bawden?s style by the 1960?s. Form created by a strong pattern of block-cut lines creates both structure and visual rhythm, and also a framework for that quality of lyricism which is so essential a part of British art of the first part of this century.