‘Paradise Lost’, in reference to the poem by John Milton, will present a view of the First and Second World Wars and their aftermath which characterised much of the innovative British art of the twentieth century.
The art during this period represents a powerful paradox of mourning and recovery, expressed in psychologically-charged paintings of sinister landscapes. Artists such as Ayrton, Minton, Nash and Piper returned to naturalism, infused with a kind of longing for an impossible reunion with the past, uncontaminated by modernity.
"The woods of Arcady are dead,
And over is their antique joy;
Of old the world on dreaming fed;
Grey Truth is now her painted toy;
Yet still she turns her restless head"
W. B. Yeats
Winter Stream 1945
Michael Ayrton (1921–1975)
Oil on board
H 57.8 x W 83.3 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Wood on the Downs 1929
Paul Nash (1889–1946)
Oil on canvas
H 71.5 x W 92 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Matthew Arnold Bracy Smith (1879–1959)
Oil on canvas
H 50.7 x W 60.9 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Walled Pond, Little Bredy, Dorset 1923
John Northcote Nash (1893–1977)
Oil on canvas
H 56.2 x W 76.4 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
The Loading, Landings, Newfoundland Lumberjacks at Work in Scottish Forest 1940
David Macbeth Sutherland (1883–1973)
Oil on canvas
H 61.1 x W 86.5 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
South Coast Beach 1939–1942
Eric Ravilious (1903–1942)
Watercolour on paper
H 43 x W 54.5 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Train Landscape 1940
Eric Ravilious (1903–1942)
Watercolour on paper (collage)
H 44.1 x W 54.8 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Coastal Defences 1940
Eric Ravilious (1903–1942)
Pencil, pen, ink & watercolour on paper
H 41.8 x W 58.1 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Derelict Building 1941
Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887–1976)
Oil on canvas
H 43.3 x W 53.2 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
The Old Cinema 1933
Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887–1976)
Oil on canvas
H 43 x W 62 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
William George Gillies (1898–1973)
Oil on canvas
H 87.6 x W 112.5 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Trees and Coppice 1928
William George Gillies (1898–1973)
Oil on canvas
H 89 x W 124 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Honeysuckle and Sweetpeas c.1945–1946
Winifred Nicholson (1893–1981)
Oil on board
H 45.5 x W 74.1 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
The Farm Pond 1930
Duncan Grant (1885–1978)
Oil on canvas
H 59 x W 81.5 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
The Barn at the Pond 1925
Duncan Grant (1885–1978)
Oil on board
H 60.1 x W 83.5 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Mount St Hilarion, Cyprus 1948
David Bomberg (1890–1957)
Oil on canvas
H 72.5 x W 92.5 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
One of the Stations of the Dead 1933–1937
Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957)
Oil on canvas
H 127.6 x W 75.8 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Northern Adventure 1929
Paul Nash (1889–1946)
Oil on canvas
H 92.7 x W 71.6 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Park Place, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire 1941
John Piper (1903–1992)
Oil on canvas on panel
H 45.8 x W 61.1 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
John Minton (1917–1957)
Oil on canvas
H 56.5 x W 76.5 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Seated Girl Holding a Piece of Sewing 1915–1925
Gwen John (1876–1939)
Oil on canvas
H 41 x W 33 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Outcast Coal Production – Depositing Earth from Buckets 1943
Graham Vivian Sutherland (1903–1980)
Pencil, oil pastel & gouache on paper
H 70 x W 85.3 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Weather Forecast 1944
John Tunnard (1900–1971)
Oil on board
H 64.1 x W 79.6 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
The Farmyard, Garsington, Oxfordshire 1925
Gilbert Spencer (1892–1979)
Oil on canvas
H 61 x W 71.5 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Southwold, Suffolk 1937
Stanley Spencer (1891–1959)
Oil on canvas
H 57.9 x W 89.9 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Crucifixion 1921
Stanley Spencer (1891–1959)
Oil on paper on canvas
H 70.7 x W 111.6 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Stanley Spencer (1891–1959)
Oil on panel
H 89.9 x W 165.9 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Ivon Hitchens (1893–1979)
Oil on canvas
H 51.1 x W 105.3 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Ivon Hitchens (1893–1979)
Oil on canvas
H 56.3 x W 61.4 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Bernard Meninsky (1891–1950)
Oil on canvas
H 40.5 x W 50.8 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Classical Landscape 1939
John Armstrong (1893–1973)
Oil on board
H 47.8 x W 58.3 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Edward Baird (1904–1949)
Oil on canvas
H 91 x W 69.5 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
A Scottish Policeman 1941
James Cowie (1886–1956)
Pastel on paper
H 51.7 x W 36.6 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Explore artists in this Curation
View all 25-
Bernard Meninsky (1891–1950) -
Eric Ravilious (1903–1942) -
James Cowie (1886–1956) -
James Pittendrigh MacGillivray (1856–1938) -
Gwen John (1876–1939) -
John Northcote Nash (1893–1977) -
Ivon Hitchens (1893–1979) -
Matthew Arnold Bracy Smith (1879–1959) -
David Macbeth Sutherland (1883–1973) -
Winifred Nicholson (1893–1981) - View all 25