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Details
Eric William Ravilious
Submarine Lithographs
the set of ten lithographs in colours, 1940-41, on wove paper, bright, unattenuated impressions of this rare series, one plate signed in pencil, from the edition of approximately 50, printed by W.S. Cowell, Ipswich, published by the artist, with margins of varying widths, several sheets with irregular trimmed edges, occasional scattered foxing, a 20mm. tear to the upper sheet edge of 'Ward Room 2', otherwise in good condition
L. 280 x 320mm. (each), S. 335 x 367mm. (and smaller)
The set comprises: a) Introductory lithograph; b) Different aspects of submarines; c) Commander looking through the periscope; d) Diving controls 2; e) Working controls while submerged; f) Diving controls 1; g) Diver; h) Testing Davis escape apparatus (signed); i) Ward Room 2; j) Ward Room 1 (10)
Submarine Lithographs
the set of ten lithographs in colours, 1940-41, on wove paper, bright, unattenuated impressions of this rare series, one plate signed in pencil, from the edition of approximately 50, printed by W.S. Cowell, Ipswich, published by the artist, with margins of varying widths, several sheets with irregular trimmed edges, occasional scattered foxing, a 20mm. tear to the upper sheet edge of 'Ward Room 2', otherwise in good condition
L. 280 x 320mm. (each), S. 335 x 367mm. (and smaller)
The set comprises: a) Introductory lithograph; b) Different aspects of submarines; c) Commander looking through the periscope; d) Diving controls 2; e) Working controls while submerged; f) Diving controls 1; g) Diver; h) Testing Davis escape apparatus (signed); i) Ward Room 2; j) Ward Room 1 (10)
Provenance
The Ravilious family
Literature
Alan Powers, Eric Ravilious - Imagined Realities, The Imperial War Museum and Philip Wilson, 2003
Frances Carey & Anthony Griffiths, Avant-garde British Printmaking 1914-1960, British Museum Publications Ltd., London, 1990
Frances Carey & Anthony Griffiths, Avant-garde British Printmaking 1914-1960, British Museum Publications Ltd., London, 1990
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
Further details
Eric Ravilious was appointed an official war artist at the end of 1939. He began to make drawings of submarines and their interiors at HMS Dolphin, the submarine base in Gosport, Hampshire, in early 1940. Describing his experiences of being at sea onboard a submarine he observed:
'It is awfully hot below when submarines dive and every compartment small and full of people at work. However, this is a change from the destroyers and I enjoy the complete calm after the North Sea - there is no roll or movement at all in submarines, which is one condition in their favour - apart from the peculiar submarine smell, the heat and the noise. There is something jolly good about it, if I can only manage it, a blue gloom with coloured lights and everyone in shirts and braces. People go to sleep in odd positions across tables'.
Working from these studies and official photographs he set about developing designs for a series of lithographs which the War Artist's Committee proposed to publish as a children's colouring book. The Committee abandoned the project due to the envisaged cost of publication, and Ravilious decided to publish them himself, as an edition of prints.
Liberated from the constraints imposed by a publisher Ravilious was able to approach the medium of lithography experimentally, trying new techniques to create equivalents for tone and texture, and modifying the inks between printings. The result is an edition of two possible colour variations, both of which were regarded as successful by the artist.
This experimental approach is matched by the freedom of design which characterises the set. Avoiding dry documentation, Ravilious simplified detail, abandoned conventional perspective and playfully superimposed images, evoking a sense of the strangeness of these mechanical leviathans and the men who operate them. We share the view from the commander's periscope as it is mysteriously projected onto the submarine wall; we observe a cruising submarine, above the water and below, from four different angles simultaneously and are left with a vivid impression of humming machinery, vibrating dials, flashing instrumentation, hatches and ladders, all bathed in a strange, preternatural light.
Although individual plates from 'Submarine Lithographs' do appear at auction on occasion, it is an exceptional rarity for a complete set to be offered. It is likely, according to the artist's family, that the editions for the 'The Diver' and 'Ward Room 2' were never completed, as impressions of these two prints in particular are extremely scarce. There were never many complete sets and, after the artist's untimely death in 1942, the remaining unsold lithographs were inherited by the Ravilious family. They have gradually been dispersed over the years. This is the last complete set from their collection.
'It is awfully hot below when submarines dive and every compartment small and full of people at work. However, this is a change from the destroyers and I enjoy the complete calm after the North Sea - there is no roll or movement at all in submarines, which is one condition in their favour - apart from the peculiar submarine smell, the heat and the noise. There is something jolly good about it, if I can only manage it, a blue gloom with coloured lights and everyone in shirts and braces. People go to sleep in odd positions across tables'.
Working from these studies and official photographs he set about developing designs for a series of lithographs which the War Artist's Committee proposed to publish as a children's colouring book. The Committee abandoned the project due to the envisaged cost of publication, and Ravilious decided to publish them himself, as an edition of prints.
Liberated from the constraints imposed by a publisher Ravilious was able to approach the medium of lithography experimentally, trying new techniques to create equivalents for tone and texture, and modifying the inks between printings. The result is an edition of two possible colour variations, both of which were regarded as successful by the artist.
This experimental approach is matched by the freedom of design which characterises the set. Avoiding dry documentation, Ravilious simplified detail, abandoned conventional perspective and playfully superimposed images, evoking a sense of the strangeness of these mechanical leviathans and the men who operate them. We share the view from the commander's periscope as it is mysteriously projected onto the submarine wall; we observe a cruising submarine, above the water and below, from four different angles simultaneously and are left with a vivid impression of humming machinery, vibrating dials, flashing instrumentation, hatches and ladders, all bathed in a strange, preternatural light.
Although individual plates from 'Submarine Lithographs' do appear at auction on occasion, it is an exceptional rarity for a complete set to be offered. It is likely, according to the artist's family, that the editions for the 'The Diver' and 'Ward Room 2' were never completed, as impressions of these two prints in particular are extremely scarce. There were never many complete sets and, after the artist's untimely death in 1942, the remaining unsold lithographs were inherited by the Ravilious family. They have gradually been dispersed over the years. This is the last complete set from their collection.
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