A lost opportunity to show John Nash at his best

John Northcote Nash (1893–1977) was the younger brother of Paul Nash (1889–1946), and has been long overshadowed by Paul, though they started their careers on a relatively even footing. The crucible of WW1 changed them: afterwards Paul became an art-world figure, cultivating possible patrons, quietly forceful and ambitious, deeply involved in the theory and practice of Modernism. John retreated into his love of nature (in particular gardening and fishing) but continued to paint with an almost classical refinement and orderliness. His art stayed close to nature yet stood back from it, while the Romantic Paul was consciously experimental, adopting a poetic approach that was unexpectedly graphic until the great paintings of his final years. Both were adept at discovering shapes in nature from which they could construct memorable images.

Rather surprisingly, seeing as we’re in the process of marking the centenary of WW1, and both John and Paul were official war artists in both the world wars, there is not a trace of war art in this exhibition. This limiting to peacetime occupations has the effect of rather slanting the narratives of their lives: we are not given the whole story, and this is important as both brothers made images of war of lasting authority. This partial view is further weighted by the selection of work on show. Paul Nash comes out of it rather well, represented by a strong choice of paintings, drawings and watercolours, but John Nash suffers. This is important as John is the lesser known of the brothers, and so needs his reputation bolstered. Unfortunately, this exhibition scarcely achieves that.

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