Colour lithograph, 'Harvesting', John Nash, School Prints series; London, 1946

Colour lithograph in predominantly oranges, blues and greens showing a harvest. In the centre a corn-field is being harvested, around it stand small bundles of hay in neat circles. A harvester is being driven by a man and three horses. Three men to the left chase a rabbit whilst another man hunts in the corn, and in the foreground another rabbit is being chased by two dogs. A man has just fallen over a bundle of hay whilst chasing the rabbit; his hat lies nearby. Against another bundle of hay a boy and girl sit watching and another man chases a dog away to the right. In the background another man is shooting at something. In the foreground to the left are two bicycles to which are tied four rabbits. The field is framed by a typical English countryside of trees and ploughed fields. There is a dark blue border with a scalloped edge.

Given by Frances Marks

Gift of Frances Marks, from her late father's collection

School Prints series was published in the 1940s. The idea behind the series was to commission established artists to create lithographs which could be editioned in very large numbers and sold cheaply to schools, for display in corridors, classrooms and assembly halls. The pupils would enjoy direct contact with new works of art. The entrepreneur, Mrs Brenda Rawnsley, wrote: 'We are producing a series of auto-lithographs, four for each term, for use in schools, as a means of giving school children an understanding of contemporary art.'

In the spirit of post-war optimism, the artists responded enthusiastically, and submitted sketches to the selection committee, chaired by Herbert Read, which included influential R.R. Tomlinson, London County Council Senior Inspector of Art. Many of the prints depict a familiar world of everyday rural or urban life, some presenting a version of the pastoral idyll (John Nash 'Harvesting') and others scenes of festivity (Barbara Jones 'Fairground'), entertainment (L.S. Lowry 'Punch and Judy') or leisure (John Tunnard's surrealist 'Holiday'). Each lithograph had a drawn frame around the image so that the print could be pinned to the wall.

Painter and wood-engraver John Nash moved to Essex in 1944 and fell in love with the Stour Valley, which became a source of inspiration in his art. An accomplished printmaker, Nash helped found the Society of Wood Engravers in 1920, and produced a number of woodcut or -engraved book illustrations for Private Press publishers such as the Golden Cockerel Press in the 1920s and 1930s.

Set up in 1945 by Brenda Rawnsley, the School Prints scheme commissioned well-known artists to create lithographs, which would then be printed in large numbers and sold cheaply to schools for display in classrooms; the aim was to give 'school children an understanding of contemporary art'. Each lithograph had a drawn frame so that the print could be pinned to the wall. In the spirit of post-war optimism, artists responded enthusiastically. The scheme was a unique attempt at giving children access to original works of art in a period of austerity but ended in 1949 because of financial problems. Many of the prints depict a familiar world of everyday rural or urban life, some presenting a version of the pastoral idyll and others scenes of entertainment or leisure.

E.235-2006