Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/paul-nash-1690" aria-label="More by Paul Nash" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Paul Nash</a>
Landscape at Iden
Purchased 1939
animals: reptiles
anxiety
architecture
basket
birth to death
birth to death
cloud
death - felled log
emotions and human qualities
emotions, concepts and ideas
England
England, South East
England, Southern
fence
firewood
heating and lighting
hill
Iden, Oxenbridge Farmhouse
landscape
natural phenomena
objects
places
shadow
snake
society
stages of life
Sussex - non-specific
Sussex, East
symbols and personifications
townscapes / man-made features
tree
UK cities, towns and villages
UK counties
UK countries and regions
vessels and containers
weather
<p>This mysterious picture shows the view from Nash’s studio in Sussex. The dramatic perspective and strange juxtaposition of rustic objects creates a sense of the uncanny. It has been read as a statement of mourning. While the young fruit trees may suggest the defencelessness of youth, the altar-like pile of logs may be a symbol of fallen humanity; the fallen tree as a symbol for the dead was common in the art and literature of the war, not least in Nash’s own paintings.For many, an idea of the timeless and enduring English landscape seemed to displace the violent destruction of the war.</p><p><em>Gallery label, July 2007</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
6 August 2001 – 30 March 2003
2003-03-30
6 August 2001 – 30 March 2003
2003-03-30
2001-08-06
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2001-08-06
War and Memory
Collection based display
23 July 2003 – 19 October 2003
2003-10-19
Tate Liverpool (Liverpool, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/
2003-07-23
Paul Nash: Modern Artist, Ancient Landscape
Exhibition
30 August 2004 – 13 August 2007
2007-08-13
30 August 2004
2004-08-30
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2004-08-30
On England
Collection based display
1 February 2010 – 31 May 2010
2010-05-31
1 February 2010 – 31 May 2010
2010-05-31
2010-02-01
Dulwich Picture Gallery (London, UK)
2010-02-01
Paul Nash: The Elements
Loan-out
28 October 2010 – 18 November 2012
2012-11-18
28 October 2010 – 18 November 2012
2012-11-18
2010-10-28
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-10-28
Gallery 14
Collection based display
30 November 2012 – 25 September 2022
2022-09-25
30 November 2012
2012-11-30
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2012-11-30
Gallery 3
Collection based display
24 October 2016 – 31 January 2018
2018-01-31
24 October 2016 – 5 March 2017
2017-03-05
2016-10-24
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
7 April 2017 – 20 August 2017
2017-08-20
2017-04-07
Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts (Norwich, UK)
9 September 2017 – 31 January 2018
2018-01-31
2017-09-09
Laing Art Gallery (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK)
http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/
2016-10-24
Paul Nash
Loan-out
26 October 2016 – 14 January 2018
2018-01-14
26 October 2016 – 5 March 2017
2017-03-05
2016-10-26
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
7 April 2017 – 20 August 2017
2017-08-20
2017-04-07
Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts (Norwich, UK)
9 September 2017 – 14 January 2018
2018-01-14
2017-09-09
Laing Art Gallery (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK)
http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/
2016-10-26
Paul Nash
Exhibition
5 June 2018 – 23 September 2018
2018-09-23
5 June 2018 – 23 September 2018
2018-09-23
2018-06-05
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2018-06-05
Aftermath: Art in the Wake of World War One
Exhibition
31 October 2022
31 October 2022
2022-10-31
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2022-10-31
Gallery 3
Collection based display
Landscape at Iden
support: 698 × 908 mm
frame: 850 × 1055 × 92 mm
Purchased 1939
<div class="text">
<p>This painting shows a view from Paul Nash’s garden in Sussex. The artist distorts the geometric forms of the logs, fence, and screen, creating a sense of intrigue. The snake on the fence is a recurring character in the artist’s works. Nash was influenced by the way Giorgio de Chirico’s art treated objects in a space, and the way he created symbolic narratives. The pile of wood may represent the significant loss of life during the First World War, as well as the passing of the artist’s father that year.</p>
</div>

Online caption
2023-12-04T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
<p><b>N05047</b> LANDSCAPE AT IDEN 1828</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Inscr. ‘Paul Nash’ b.l.
<br/>Canvas, 27 1/2×35 3/4 (70×90·5).
<br/>Purchased from the artist through Arthur Tooth &amp; Sons (Knapping Fund) 1939.
<br/><i>Exh:</i> Leicester Galleries, November 1928 (63); <i>International Exhibition</i>, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1931 (261); Leicester Galleries, November 1932 (49; not numbered in catalogue but cf. Eates, 1948, p.52); Venice Biennale, 1938 (British Pavilion, 15); Leeds, April–June, 1943 (13); Tate Gallery, March–May 1948 (24); Canada, 1949–50 (7).
<br/><i>Lit:</i> Eates, 1948, p.77, repr. pl.53; Bertram, 1955, p.163.
<br/><i>Repr:</i> <i>Architectural Review</i>, CII, 1947, p.78; Carlos Peacock, <i>Painters and Writers</i>, 1949, pl.96 (in colour).</p>
<p>The <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/photograph" title="Glossary definition for 'Photograph'"><span>photograph</span></a> in the Nash Collection, V. &amp; A. Library, is dated 1928. The <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> shows a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/f/formalism" title="Glossary definition for 'Formalism'"><span>formalized</span></a> view from the artist's garden, Oxenbridge Cottage, Iden, Sussex, and is one of a number of works painted at this time in which the geometric shapes of such motifs as the screen and logs are stressed. The snake, seen on the fence at the left, is an important symbol in Nash's work.</p>
<p>On the back there is an unfinished upright <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/landscape" title="Glossary definition for 'Landscape'"><span>landscape</span></a> dominated by a central tree, dateable <i>c.</i> 1927.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, II
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-06T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
animals: reptiles anxiety architecture basket birth to death birth to death cloud death - felled log emotions and human qualities emotions, concepts and ideas England England, South East England, Southern fence firewood heating and lighting hill Iden, Oxenbridge Farmhouse landscape natural phenomena objects places shadow snake society stages of life Sussex, East Sussex - non-specific symbols and personifications townscapes / man-made features tree UK cities, towns and villages UK counties UK countries and regions vessels and containers weather