Andy Friend – författare

'A triumph' TLS 'Exemplary' Observer Author and curator Andy Friend explores the legacy of the Artists International Association in a compelling group biography set against a background of resistance to the rise of fascism in Europe. From the depths of the Slump in 1933 to the turning tide of war in 1943, the lives and work of British artists intersected with a world in crisis. A compelling group biography, Comrades in Art tells the fascinating, previously overlooked story of the political factions behind the development of modern art in Britain. It explores how, from student beginnings to the Popular Front through to war, an artists’ network opposing fascism generated work, ideas and actions that would help to shape the post-war world. Featuring some of the best-known names in British and European art, such as Barbara Hepworth, Paul Nash, Edward Bawden, David Bomberg, Pablo Picasso, Oskar Kokoschka, Kurt Schwitters and Henry Moore, Comrades in Art is rooted in the lives of its diverse protagonists. Taking the first ten years of the Artists International Association as his point of focus, Andy Friend brings to life the captivating drama of the organisation as it rapidly grew to command the allegiance of a majority of Britain’s aspiring and established artists, offering new insights into art and culture during this decade of political extremes.

A long-overdue biography and rediscovery of 20th-century British artist John Nash ‘Andy Friend deftly carries the reader into a much-peopled narrative, opening up many insights into the art world at the same time that he gets inside the personal life of John Nash and his wife Christine Kühlenthal.’ Frances Spalding John Nash was a highly versatile artist who responded to the British landscape with a unique vision that still resonates today. He also created some of the most memorable paintings of the First World War. Over a sixty-year career he produced paintings in oil and watercolour and was also an illustrator, cartoonist, wood-engraver and arguably the finest botanical draughtsman of his era. Unlike his older brother Paul, John received no formal art training, but emerged almost fully fledged into the London art world of 1913. Held in high regard by his contemporaries, Nash was part of a wide network of artist friends, including Walter Sickert, Harold Gilman, Charles Ginner, Mark Gertler, Dora Carrington, Cedric Morris and of course his brother Paul, and he in turn influenced Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden. John Nash: The Landscape of Love and Solace examines these personal and working relationships, and in particular that with his wife Christine Kuhlenthal. An extraordinary voice in her own right, revealed here for the first time through her letters and journals, Christine’s influence was critical to Nash’s career during a long marriage which also encompassed both partners having many other relationships. Their life story is an extraordinary one, which as this book shows was touched by many hitherto untold events. Drawing on original research and including a foreword by David Dimbleby, this fascinating and long-overdue biography provides a much fuller picture of John Nash and his work than previously and is at the same time an intimate and compelling narrative, embracing love, tragedy and the pursuit of solace.

In recent years Eric Ravilious has become recognized as one of the most important British artists of the 20th century, whose watercolours and wood engravings capture an essential sense of place and the spirit of mid-century England. What is less appreciated is that he did not work in isolation, but within a much wider network of artists, friends and lovers influenced by Paul Nash’s teaching at the Royal College of Art – Edward Bawden, Barnett Freedman, Enid Marx, Tirzah Garwood, Percy Horton, Peggy Angus and Helen Binyon among them. The Ravilious group bridged the gap between fine art and design, and the gentle, locally rooted but spritely character of their work came to be seen as the epitome of contemporary British values. Seventy-five years after Ravilious’s untimely death, Andy Friend tells the story of this group of artists from their student days through to the Second World War. Ravilious & Co. explores how they influenced each other and how a shared experience animated their work, revealing the significance in this pattern of friendship of women artists, whose place within the history of British art has often been neglected. Generously illustrated and drawing on extensive research, and a wealth of newly discovered material, Ravilious & Co. is an enthralling narrative of creative achievement, joy and tragedy.