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Lot Essay
In the summer of 1941, Nash made one of his regular trips to Madams in Gloucestershire to stay with his friends Charles and Clare Neilson. In a letter to his wife Margaret, dated 7 July, he refers to a group of watercolours that he painted at Madams in the summer of 1941, including the present lot, 'I seem to have 15 watercolours, 8 of which are large ones' (see in A. Causey, Paul Nash, Oxford, 1980, p. 454).
He had first visited Madams in 1938, finding inspiration in the landscape. For example, he discovered 'monster field' nearby at Carswalls Farm, two burnt elm trees lying in a field, and painted them on several occasions. During the war, Nash regarded Madams as a refuge and place to escape to. He described the house and its location as 'an enchanting place. A perfect situation, the little house perched up overlooking the hills and valleys. You approach it down a winding drive through a hazel wood but it opens into a clearing with a sweet garden and orchard with the rather mountainous looking Malverns massed on the horizon' (see A. Causey, Paul Nash, Oxford, 1980, p. 296).
He had first visited Madams in 1938, finding inspiration in the landscape. For example, he discovered 'monster field' nearby at Carswalls Farm, two burnt elm trees lying in a field, and painted them on several occasions. During the war, Nash regarded Madams as a refuge and place to escape to. He described the house and its location as 'an enchanting place. A perfect situation, the little house perched up overlooking the hills and valleys. You approach it down a winding drive through a hazel wood but it opens into a clearing with a sweet garden and orchard with the rather mountainous looking Malverns massed on the horizon' (see A. Causey, Paul Nash, Oxford, 1980, p. 296).