This term in Art, we are learning about the life and work of Paul Nash, an official War Artist in both World Wars I and II.

Paul Nash (11 May 1889 – 11 July 1946) was a British surrealist painter, as well as a photographer, collage artist, writer and designer. Nash was among the most important landscape artists of the first half of the twentieth century. He played a key role in the development of Modernism in English art.

During WW1 and WW2, Nash was commissioned to create paintings and drawings-some which were used on propaganda posters and leaflets and others to represent the catastrophe of war.

Today we studied a series of Nash’s most famous World War II paintings:

                                                                              Bomber in the Corn (1940)

                                                                                              Dead Sea (1940-41)

                                                                                        Battle of Germany (1944)

We talked about the artistic style, techniques and media used in the various paintings, as well as reflecting on the various images and the feelings we felt that Paul Nash was trying to invoke with his art. 

Then, using inspiration from Nash’s painting ‘The Battle Of Germany’,  we had the chance to imitate his style using sketching pencils and water colours.

In our next Art lesson, we are looking forward to innovating Paul Nash’s work, using oil paints to create our impression of WW2 in the surrealist style of Paul Nash. 

Which is your favourite of the three paintings by Paul Nash?  Why?

31 comments on “Artist Study: Paul Nash

  1. Good job year 6!

  2. Alexandra Y3 says:

    Great artwork Y6! 👌

  3. Great artwork year six. Good job 👏🏻.

  4. Sophia Maria says:

    I like the third picture the most, because in the other pictures you can see what they resemble. However, in this one Paul Nash wants you to work it out for yourself and you can look at this picture in different ways. I can see the sea, explosions from bombs and tanks as well as the universe.

  5. Sophia B Y6 says:

    I love the battle of Germany because of how abstract it is and I loved painting it for art. In the painting you can see grey clouds in the background which could show that a bomb was dropped there as these paintings were painted during WW2.

  6. It was very exciting to learn about Paul Nash because he draws a lot of abstract landscapes and everyone can see different things in his landscapes. My favourite one is called bomber in the corn . I like it because the background is lovely but when you look at the bombed plane its a bit sad!

  7. my favourite peace of art is the battle of Germany because it was very artistic and Paul Nash made us really think about what he painted .it was also very colourful and interesting to hear what everyone thought about this painting .

  8. My favourite paintings of Paul Nash is the Dead Sea this is because i really like how the crashed aeroplanes create a vision of the sea and it is very clear and shows how many planes crashed during the world war 2

  9. My favourite picture by Paul Nash was the battle of Germany as we have to guess what it represents and the shapes are very different. It is great to see what you see and what others see.

  10. My favourite picture was the DEAD SEA because it is very artistic and imaginative .It is made of crashed planes and oil paints. It does not have a lot of colours but it has a lot of meaning.

  11. ❤hollirose says:

    i liked the third one because it has lots of colours and i like how i can see a train, and it is more abstsract than any other.

  12. My favourite picture out of the three pictures is battle of Germany because I think the artist has been very creative designing the picture.

  13. I like the third picture because at first you can not tell what is going on but when you look again you will realise what the blobs of paint realy represent.

  14. MILA YEAR 6 says:

    I think all of the pictures were so cool in there own way . If you look close at the 3rd one you can see what Paul Nash was trying to do.

  15. Isabella y6 says:

    I like the third one because that one is more abstract and only you can tell what it looks like for you.

  16. My favourite picture was Bomber in the Corn because it is a very beautiful and meaningful, and it displays the sadness of WWII.

  17. I am so excited to do the oil paints!!! My favourite painting by Paul Nash is the Battle of Germany because you can interpret the picture in so many ways.

  18. I liked the 2nd picture, the dead sea, because it looks like the ocean with lots of waves but actually, it has broken planes and bombs in it from the WW2. At the end on the waves, you can see land with mountains.

  19. My favourite painting by Paul Nash is the Dead Sea because I like how Paul Nash uses bombed planes to make a sea. The painting shows how many planes were destroyed during World War Two.

  20. I think the best painting is the battle of Germany, it tells you so much and it is a very moving picture.

  21. Marie Y6 : ) says:

    My favourite picture is the first one, because I really like the contrast between the beautiful corn field and the dismal sight of the crashed bomber.

  22. I prefer the third one because of how he left what everything in the picture is and what’s happening.

  23. I liked the first picture the best because it was very understandable and you could easily tell that it was meant to be a sad story of the crashed planes from the German bombers. That`s because Paul Nash is a world war II artist so he paint lots of bombs and planes.

  24. I like the third picture because even though it was the most abstract you could slightly see the depiction of a war.I can see all the explosions which are depicted in a very abstract way.

  25. I like the battle of Germany because it is abstract and you can put your own opinion of what it looks like

  26. I like the third one because it is abstsract so other people can have their own opinion

  27. Paul Nash is an abstract and surrealist artist and makes beautiful artwork. My favourite painting is bomber in the corn (1940)-the broken plane is in a waterfall 🖼🎨

  28. I like bomber in the corn the most because he used watercolours instead of oil paints and you can see what the main picture is. I also like it because you have a lovely landscape but then you also have the depressing sight of a shot down plane.

  29. My favourite picture was the battle of the germay because it is abstract

  30. Florence Y3🌈 says:

    WOW Year 6. Your sketches are AMAZING 🤩. I really want to be an artist when I grow up.

  31. IsabellaY6❤️ says:

    I loved doing the painting it was really fun.

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