In the 1930s Suzanne Cooper (1916–1992) was a rising star of British modernism. While studying at the innovative Grosvenor School of Modern Art in Pimlico, she began showing oil paintings and wood engravings in prestigious West End galleries; reviewers singled out her work for praise. Cooper became the protégée of one of her tutors, the renowned printmaker Iain Macnab, and the influential dealer and collector Lucy Carrington Wertheim who not only exhibited Cooper’s work, but also bought at least two of her paintings. Then came the Second World War. When the Grosvenor School closed, Cooper became a volunteer nurse, and then a wife and mother. Although she continued to draw on occasion, she all but abandoned her artistic ambitions.

Only in recent years has Cooper’s work been rediscovered, attracting comparisons to that of such celebrated artists as Eric Ravilious and Christopher Wood. This beautiful new book showcases Cooper’s remarkable skill in fifty of her enchanting paintings, prints and drawings. The oddity and charm she found in the everyday world resulted in lively seaside and street scenes. Her still lifes display technical fluency and an innate feeling for colour, her portraits a Surrealist quality. A commentary on each work is provided by Andrew Stewart, while richly illustrated essays by Lucy Hughes-Hallett (Cooper’s daughter-in-law) and Jenny Uglow reflect on Cooper’s life and her place in the British art world of the interwar period. With this exciting publication, Suzanne Cooper receives long-awaited recognition for her extraordinary talent.

Hardback | 112 pages, 24 x 28 cm (landscape) | 120 illustrations

ISBN 978-0-9576665-8-0

£35

For the Ravilious collector - here are four beautiful books housed in a hand-made slipcase, covered in a delightful Ravilious pattern paper. The Ravilious in Pictures Collection explores the artist’s life and career as a watercolourist featuring some of his best-known work and rarer paintings from private collections. The books have been written by the popular writer, curator and Ravilious specialist, James Russell and designed by Webb and Webb. The 48 page, hardback books are: Sussex and the Downs, The War Paintings, A Country Life, and A Travelling Artist.

Please bear in mind when ordering this set that the slipcases are hand made and take c. 10 days to complete. Do let us know whether you would like a blue or orange pattern paper. This product is available for UK customers only.

The work of Eric Ravilious is more popular than ever, but how much do we know about the artist himself? Our view of him may be shaped mainlyby our familiarity with his evocative watercolours of the pre-war English landscape and by our knowledge that he died at a tragically young age in 1942. Before Ravilious earned the sad distinction of becoming the first artist to be killed on active service during the Second World War, his thirty-nine years were filled with a prolific career encompassing painting, illustration and design, and with enduring friendships and critical acclaim.

This beautifully produced new book from the Mainstone Press brings together more than thirty writings about Ravilious – some never before published – by those who knew him best and a wider circle of acquaintances and admirers. As the Ravilious expert Alan Powers notes in his introduction, there is a melancholy upside to dying young: contemporaries may record their impressions of you. The texts collected here range in date from a Times review of a watercolour exhibition in 1927 to a personal recollection of 2012 by the artist David Hepher, whose parents were friends with the Raviliouses in the 1930s, and who remembers Eric’s help with an unusual art project. Other memories are provided by friends from school and student days, including such renowned fellow Royal College of Art alumni as Edward Bawden, Peggy Angus and Enid Marx. The only text authored by Ravilious and published in his lifetime, ‘Preface by the Engraver’ in the Lanston Monotype Almanack of 1929, is reprinted in full for the first time, and proves he was a fine writer. Equally insightful are essays, journal articles and catalogue contributions – from both pre- and post-war eras – that shed light on Ravilious’s working methods and appraise all areas of his practice, from wood engraving to lithography. Accompanied by 170 illustrations and photographs, the texts carefully selected for this fascinating volume paint a warm, fully rounded portrait of this multi-talented artist.

Printed and bound in the UK
Paperback / 144 pages
30 x 23.4 cm
ISBN 978-1-0687641-0-3