The Nest of Wild Stones: Paul Nash’s Geological Realism

Reid, Anna (2018) The Nest of Wild Stones: Paul Nash’s Geological Realism. Visual Culture in Britain, 19 (2). pp. 189-215. ISSN 1471-4787

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Abstract

This article reads the work of English artist Paul Nash in the context of geological discovery in the early twentieth century and during the interwar period. The new knowledge of radioactivity followed by pioneering geophysical research in England, led by Arthur Holmes and presented in his book The Age of The Earth, transformed perceptions of reality itself. Nash’s work in the English landscape tradition was confluent with this new knowledge. This article describes Nash’s works beyond the bounds of extant modernist, neo-romantic and surrealist accounts. It also redefines the ‘Englishness’ of his oeuvre. When read as a geological realism, Nash’s work is visible as a rich precedent to realisms of the twenty-first century.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Paul Nash, geology, radioactivity, ontology, English, modernist, marvellous, speculative
Subjects:	L900 Others in Social studies W100 Fine Art W900 Others in Creative Arts and Design
Department:	Faculties > Arts, Design and Social Sciences > Arts
Depositing User:	Elena Carlaw
Date Deposited:	06 Jun 2019 14:18
Last Modified:	10 Oct 2019 18:30
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/39545

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