This drawing depicts a dramatic nightmare battle between an angel and a devil. The mysteries associated with the night fascinated the British artist Paul Nash (1889-1946). He explored the notion that sometimes only the trees witnessed events that took place after dark.
In an accompanying poem Nash describes this scene.
‘A place of gibbet-shapen trees and black abyss
Where gaunt hills brooded dark and evil
Girdled by dense wet woods and rushing streams
A dread place seen only in dreams
Of which there is no history but this
That on yon' stony tor
An angel fought a devil.’
Physical description
Pencil, ink and wash drawing of a male figure fighting a bird-like creature on the top of a hill.
Place of Origin
Great Britain, UK (made)
Date
1910 (made)
Artist/maker
Paul Nash, born 1889 - died 1946 (artist)
Materials and Techniques
Pen, ink and wash
Marks and inscriptions
'P. N.'
Dimensions
Height: 35.6 cm, Width: 25.8 cm
Object history note
This drawing was formerly entitled 'Angel and Devil '. See Margot Eastes, Paul Nash, 1948, p.50; Paul Nash, Outline, 1949, repr. p.64; Anthony Bertram, Paul Nash, 1955, p.61, 62, 280, 319. It was exhibited at the Oxford Arts Club, 1931 (No.11). It was exhibited at the Oxford Arts Club, 1931 (No.11).
Descriptive line
'The Combat'. Pencil, ink and wash drawing by Paul Nash, 1910.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Eates, Margot, Paul Nash , 1948, p.50
Nash, Paul, Outline , 1949
Bertram, Anthony, Paul Nash , 1955, pp 61, 62, 280, 319
Tate Gallery, Paul Nash: Paintings and Watercolours, , (London: Tate Gallery Publications, 1975), p.47
'Nash wrote an accompanying poem on the same sheet and though he later removed this and destroyed it, a manuscript version of the poem Survives:
A place of gibbet - shapen trees and black abyss
Where gaunt hills brooded dark and evil
Girdled by dense wet woods and rushing streams
A dread place seen only in dreams
Of which there is no history but this
That on yon' stony tor
An angel fought a devil
Nash's early letters to Gordon Bottomley show that Bottomley had seen it by April 1910. It is also titled 'the Combat' in early letters.'
ed. Michael Bracewell, Martin Clark and Alun Rowlands, The Dark Monarch: Magic & Modernity in British Art London: Tate Publishing, 2009. ISBN: 9781854378743.
Exhibition catalogue
David Fraser Jenkins, Paul Nash. The Elements London: Dulwich Picture Gallery, 2010. ISBN: 978-1-85759-619-9.
Exhibition catalogue
Victoria & Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1962. London: HMSO, 1964.
The full text of the entry is as follows:
"NASH, Paul (1889-1946)
The Combat, 1910.
Signed with monogram P. N.
Pencil, ink and wash. 35.6 x 25.7 cm. P.16-1962
Given by the Paul and Margaret Nash Trust in accordance with the washes of Margaret Nash
Note: This drawing was formerly entitled 'Angel and Devil'. See Margot Eastes, Paul Nash, 1948, p.50; Paul Nash, Outline, 1949, repr. p.64; Anthony Bertram, Paul Nash, 1955, p.61, 62, 280, 319. It was exhibited at the Oxford Arts Club, 1931 (No.11)."
Exhibition History
Paul Nash: The Elements (Dulwich Picture Gallery 10/02/2010-09/05/2010)
The Dark Monarch; Magic and Modernism in British Art (Tate St. Ives 10/10/2009-10/01/2010)
Paul Nash, paintings and watercolours (Tate 12/11/1975-28/12/1975)
x (Oxford Arts Club 01/01/1931-31/12/1931)
Materials
Ink; Wash
Techniques
Drawing
Subjects depicted
Angel; Night; Devil
Categories
Drawings
Collection code
PDP
