Fowls

Thomas Saunders Nash 1891 - 1968

Summary

A close up view of a sunlit farmyard, scattered with farm debris including piles of straw, pieces of wood, a basket and a roll of chicken wire. Several chickens wander amongst the debris or lie basking in the sun. There is a sunny meadow in the background, with more birds wandering amongst the trees. The colour scheme of the painting is predominately blue and grey. Thomas Nash trained at the Slade School of Art and won 'First Prize in Drawing and Painting from Life' in 1912. His talent for drawing was 'discovered' when he was in hospital recovering from a serious skating accident. His training at the Slade was paid for by a benefactor, Violet Eustace. Through most of his life, Nash supported himself through teaching and only painted actively during the period 1920-1940. A move to Yorkshire in 1930 with his second wife effectively cut him off from the artistic life of London and the artist friends of his Slade years. Nash's work consisted, in the main, of religious subjects and landscapes with figures. His enduring heroes were the Italian 'primitives', in particular Giotto, Lorenzetti and Fra Angelico.