THE WESTBURY HORSE 1939

Eric Ravilious made this image of THE WESTBURY HORSE with watercolour, and it is the kind of painting that gets under your skin with its gentle strangeness. There's this white horse cut into the hill, bold and flat, but then the way Ravilious handles the land is so interesting. Look at those thin, scratchy lines suggesting texture, like he's mapping the terrain with his brush. The colours are muted, almost like a faded memory, except for the odd spots of bright colour in the foreground, drawing your eye into the scene. I keep thinking about the train in the background. It is a small detail, but it changes everything. It is like Ravilious is showing us a world in transition, where ancient symbols meet modern life. I am reminded of Edward Bawden, also an English watercolourist with a strong sense of place. They both have this knack for finding poetry in the everyday. Ultimately, this image is less about what we see and more about how we see it, a quiet invitation to look closer.