We are ever so pleased to write that we are now printing The Train by Claughton Pellew. His work so clearly fits with the other images we publish.

Perhaps best known as a wood engraver, Pellew did some wonderful watercolour work. The Train manages to canvas two kinds of ability: an accuracy of depiction which Pellew most often so skilfully managed in his wood engraving work, but also the skill to infuse his images with a romantic intensity akin to the type of intensity Ravilious managed to capture in his watercolours.

The Train is Pellew’s masterpiece. It is a twilight view of the embankment at Overstand in North East Norfolk, a view Pellew could see from the window of the house he occupied. A rare depiction in the artist’s oeuve of modern life, it is nevertheless an elegiac capturing of a peaceful scene, and one wherein the night train, with its row of lit-up windows, disturbs neither the shepherd nor his sheep.

The Train. Claughton Pellew. Price £220.00

We are also delighted to say that we are finally now printing the Cyril Power sporting images – four of them, including the beautiful, almost botanical, The Eight.

The Eight. Cyril Power. Price £175.00

And very much from the same Grosvenor School as Power, we have three new images from Ethel Spowers. The narrative content will appeal particularly to children here: children on swings, children protected by their parents, but it also appeals to the memories we all have of such times and such activities.

Swings. Ethel Spowers. Price £75.00

The De La Warr Pavilion was designed by German émigré architect Erich Mendelsohn and his British partner Serge Chermayeff. Situated on the south coast of England it is one of the finest examples of Modernist architecture in the world. The Pavilion was commissioned as a cultural and entertainments centre by the 9^th Earl De la Warr, and opened by the future King George V1 in 1935. After the Second World War the building fell slowly into disrepair, but in the 1990’s a major programme of restoration and redevelopment began, and today, seventy-five years after its opening, the De La Warr Pavilion is again thriving as a vibrant cultural and entertainments centre.

At its inception in 1935, Serge Chermayeff invited the artist Edward Wadsworth (A.R.A 1889 – 1949 – see Artists) to design a mural for the De La Warr Pavilion. Wadsworth based his design on a 1929 painting Shells and Cones – a highly stylised version of a sea chart of the area surrounding the Pavilion.

Wadsworth, at the time, was contracted by the Cunard Line to decorate what would become their flagship the Queen Mary. So after creating a Study for the mural Wadsworth employed the artist Charles Howard to implement his designs at the Pavilion. The mural was painted onto the east wall of the Pavilion restaurant (now gallery 1), but due to the action of light on the plaster wall the mural deteriorated. Eventually it was copied onto canvas – not by Wadsworth or Howard, but by an employee of the Pavilion – and it can now be seen at the entrance to the De La Warr Restaurant.

The original Study hangs in a private room at the De La Warr Pavilion. Whilst it is not on public view, it is, upon request, lent to museums and galleries.

To celebrate its seventy-fifth year in 2010 the Pavilion decided to print a Limited Edition Print (1/200) of the Study. They approached the Bookroom Art Press to oversee the process. This we did from start to finish: from the arrangement of copyrights and specialist photography to the proofing and final printing of the image. We mounted the print in archival mount board and framed it in our English oak frame.

You can purchase the print directly from the Pavilion DLWP Shop - shop@dlwp.com or 01424 229 111

The Bookroom Art Press can undertake similar projects. Please do contact us to discuss – we are always pleased to help.

We’ve included all the newly published and printed images – the Underwood and Flight images, the new Tschudi images, and the new ‘Velveteen Rabbit’ William Nicholson children’s images. (I say ‘children’s images’, but as with Ardizzone’s ‘Tim and the Brave Sea Captain’ prints, these images are already being purchased by as many adults for themselves as for their children).

Along with new prints by new artists we are now also selling the long anticipated Ravilious ‘High Street’ images – the full 24. These were initially created by Ravilious for a book on shops and published by Country Life Books in 1938, just before the war. Very few of the books were actually printed, the war intervened, and the lithographic plates were destroyed in the Blitz. It is a pleasure and a privilege, therefore, to be printing these exquisite lithographs.

We now also sell our prints bespoke framed. Our frames – a matt black wood frame and an elegant English oak (see About Us) are carefully chosen and the framing itself is done to the highest of standards to ensure that the print is both protected and presented at its best.

We’ll be adding many more images as the year progresses so please do keep visiting.

Darion Goodwin