Title

Mimosa Wood

1926

Artist

Paul Nash

England

11 May 1889 – 11 Jul 1946

Details

Date

1926

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil on canvas

Dimensions

54.1 x 65.2 cm stretcher; 71.0 x 82.5 x 5.7 cm frame

Signature & date

Signed l.r., grey and black paint "Paul Nash". Not dated.

Credit

Watson Bequest Fund 1946

Location

Not on display

Accession number

7775

Copyright

© TATE, London 2003
Reproduction requests

Artist information

Paul Nash
Works in the collection

8

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About

Throughout his career Paul Nash was fascinated by landscapes but is best remembered for his work as a war artist, serving in the first and second world wars. He was greatly influenced by the European avant-garde styles of abstraction and surrealism and was one of the founding members of the short lived Unit One, a group of painters, sculptors and architects that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, and who helped to revive English art in the interwar years.

It is most likely that Nash made the preparatory sketch for this work in the early months of 1925 whilst he and his wife stayed at the Pension de la Plage in Cros de Cagnes, France. The Mimosa wood could be seen from their bedroom window.
Exhibition history
Shown in 7 exhibitions
- Unknown, London Group, Exhibition Venue Unknown, Jun 1926–Jun 1926
- Unknown, Redfern Gallery 1933, The Redfern Gallery, London, 1933–1933
- Paul Nash paintings and watercolours, Plymouth City Art Gallery, Plymouth, 17 Jan 1968–08 Feb 1968
  
  Paul Nash paintings and watercolours, City of Bradford Art Gallery, Bradford, 13 Mar 1968–04 Apr 1968
  
  Paul Nash paintings and watercolours, Manchester City Art Gallery, Manchester, 10 Apr 1968–02 May 1968
  
  Paul Nash paintings and watercolours, Tate Britain, England, 12 Nov 1975–28 Dec 1975
  
  Paul Nash paintings and watercolours, The Minories, Colchester, England, 17 Feb 1976–07 Mar 1976
- Paul Nash - photographer and painter, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 04 Feb 1977–27 Feb 1977
- Modern Britain 1900-1960, NGV: International, Melbourne, 15 Nov 2007–24 Feb 2008
- Modernists: selections from the European collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 07 Nov 2015–25 Apr 2016
- Landscapes of pleasure, from Monet to Hockney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 30 Apr 2016–17 Jul 2016
Bibliography
Referenced in 11 publications
- Anthony Bertram, Paul Nash: the portrait of an artist, London, 1955, 156.
- Edmund Capon AM, OBE and Jan Meek (Editors), Portrait of a Gallery, 'European 20th Century Art', pg. 91-95, Sydney, 1984, 91.
- Andrew Causey, Paul Nash, 'Catalogue: Oil paintings and watercolours', pg. 345-476, Oxford, 1980, 396. cat.no. 542
- Margot Eates, Paul Nash: the master of the image, 1889-1946, 'The Iden Period 1925-1929', pg. 36-43, London, 1973, (illus.), 38, 120. plate.no. 44
- Renée Free, Art Gallery of New South Wales catalogue of British paintings, Sydney, 1987, 135 (illus.).
- Ted Gott, Laurie Benson and Sophie Matthiesson, Modern Britain 1900-1960, Melbourne, 2007, 188, 189 (colour illus.).
- Anne Kirker and Peter Tomory, British painting 1800–1990 in Australian and New Zealand public collections, Sydney, 1997, 138. cat.no. 1576
- Barry Pearce, Paul Nash - photographer and painter, 'Paul Nash works from Australian collections', pg. 41-51, Perth, 1977, 41, 44 (illus.). cat.no. 108
- Sir Herbert Read, Margot Eates, Sir John Rothenstein, E.H. Ramsden and Philip Brutton James, Paul Nash paintings, drawings and illustrations, London, 1948, (illus.). plate.no. 47, as 1927
- Sir John Rothenstein, Modern English painters Lewis to Moore, London, 1956, 109.
- Tate Britain, Paul Nash paintings and watercolours, London, 1975, 69. cat.no. 97
Provenance

Alex Reid & Lefevre, Ltd., 1926, London/England

The Redfern Gallery, circa 1934, London/England, Sold to C.J. Scaramanga

C.J. Scaramanga, 1934-12 Feb 1936, Purchased from the Redfern Gallery 1934 and sold 12 February 1936

Royan Middleton, post 12 Feb 1936, Purchased from Scaramanga's sale

Christie's London, 21 May 1946, London/England

Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd, 21 May 1946-22 Nov 1946, London/England, Purchased by the AGNSW from Arthur Tooth & Sons 1946. Purchased by Tooth's from Christie's London, 21 May 1946.