Genesis- Twelve Woodcuts by Paul Nash with the first Chapter of Genesis in the Authorized Version 1924
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Dimensions: 10 13/16 x 7 5/8 in. (27.46 x 19.37 cm)
Copyright: No Copyright - United States
This is one of twelve woodcuts by Paul Nash illustrating the first chapter of Genesis from the King James Bible. Made in England in the early 1920s, these images reflect Nash’s personal spiritual journey, as well as a broader cultural search for meaning in the aftermath of World War I. Nash’s stark, modernist style abstracts the biblical text, emphasizing elemental forms and contrasting light and shadow. This print shows the creation of light in the form of sharp, angular planes. Consider how Nash's modernism might also reflect the machine age. Looking at Nash’s work, we can consider how artists draw on religious and philosophical traditions to grapple with social change and individual experience. Art historians study the cultural and institutional contexts of art to better understand its meaning as something that is contingent on its time.
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minneapolisinstituteofart over 1 year ago
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Paul Nash was a pioneer of modernism in Britain. An official war artist during both World Wars, he experimented with a range of avant-garde styles during his career, culminating in 1933 when he helped found Unit One, an influential group of British surrealists that included Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore, and Barbara Hepworth. Considered to be among his finest engravings, Nash produced the stark monochromatic illustrations for Genesis during a period when he moved toward semi-abstraction. Nash's illustrations also show the influence of Cubism and Vorticism, particularly in their fragmented space and sense of dynamic movement.
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