Oil paint and gouache on board
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-tunnard-2074" aria-label="More by John Tunnard" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">John Tunnard</a>
Reclamation
Purchased 1945
abstraction
aircraft - non-specific
architecture
boat - non-specific
building - non-specific
from recognisable sources
irregular forms
landscape
man-made
non-representational
sea
seascapes and coasts
society
townscapes / man-made features
transport: air
transport: water
<p>Tunnard moved to Cornwall in 1930 to run a hand-blocked printed silk business with his wife. He became a leading abstract painter in the 1930s and was partly influenced by Surrealism. From 1940-45 he served as a coastguard. His early work constantly revealed an interest in the minutiae of nature, but in the 1940s technological shapes entered his visual vocabulary. Semi-transparent forms and planes intersect like those in Naum Gabo's constructions. Here the title may refer to an imagined future engineering project. Or, with its overtones of triumph and victory, it may herald the end of the war.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint gouache board
10 March 2003 – July 2003
Mar 2003 – July 2003
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2003-03-10
Broken Ground
Collection based display
15 June 2005 – 4 September 2005
2005-09-04
15 June 2005 – 4 September 2005
2005-09-04
2005-06-15
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2005-06-15
A Picture of Britain
Exhibition
4 October 2008 – 11 January 2009
2009-01-11
4 October 2008 – 11 January 2009
2009-01-11
2008-10-04
Tate St Ives (St Ives, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/stives/
2008-10-04
Heimo Zobernig and the Tate Collection
Exhibition
6 March 2010 – 6 June 2010
2010-06-06
6 March 2010 – 6 June 2010
2010-06-06
2010-03-06
Pallant House Gallery (Chichester, UK)
2010-03-06
John Tunnard at Pallant House Gallery
Loan-out
5 February 2011 – 2 May 2011
2011-05-02
5 February 2011 – 2 May 2011
2011-05-02
2011-02-05
Tate St Ives (St Ives, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/stives/
2011-02-05
The Design Research Unit
Exhibition
26 March 2015 – 27 May 2020
2020-05-27
26 March 2015 – 21 June 2015
2015-06-21
2015-03-26
Museo Nacional de Arte (Mexico City, Mexico)
18 July 2015 – 18 October 2015
2015-10-18
2015-07-18
Pinacoteca do Estado (São Paulo, Brazil)
27 April 2018 – 5 August 2018
2018-08-05
2018-04-27
Shanghai Art Museum (Shanghai, China)
4 September 2018 – 13 November 2018
2018-11-13
2018-09-04
National Art Museum of China (Beijing, China)
27 November 2019 – 27 May 2020
2020-05-27
2019-11-27
Hong Kong Museum of Art (Hong Kong, China)
2015-03-26
British Landscape
Tate partnerships & programmes
24 June 2024
24 June 2024
2024-06-24
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2024-06-24
Archive Gallery: Artists International Association
Collection based display
Reclamation
support: 559 × 714 mm
frame: 692 × 848 × 60 mm
Purchased 1945
<p>Tunnard moved to Cornwall in 1930 to run a hand-blocked printed silk business with his wife. He became a leading <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/a/abstract-art" title="Glossary definition for 'Abstract art'"><span>abstract</span></a> painter in the 1930s and was partly influenced by <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/surrealism" title="Glossary definition for 'Surrealism'"><span>Surrealism</span></a>. From 1940-45 he served as a coastguard. His early work constantly revealed an interest in the minutiae of nature, but in the 1940s technological shapes entered his visual vocabulary. Semi-transparent forms and planes intersect like those in Naum Gabo's constructions. Here the title may refer to an imagined future engineering project. Or, with its overtones of triumph and victory, it may herald the end of the war.</p>
Display caption
2004-08-18T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N05624</b> RECLAMATION 1944
<br/>
<br/>Inscr. ‘John Tunnard 44 0.95’ b.r. and on back ‘John Tunnard 1944’.</p>
<p>Oil and gouache on hardboard, 22×28 1/8 (56×71·5).
<br/>Purchased from the artist through the Redfern Gallery (Knapping Fund) 1945.</p>
<p>
<br/>[no further details]
<br/></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/>
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-07-22T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
abstraction aircraft - non-specific architecture boat - non-specific building - non-specific from recognisable sources irregular forms landscape man-made non-representational sea seascapes and coasts society townscapes / man-made features transport: air transport: water