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Paul Nash  1889-1946

Paul Nash Equivalents for the Megaliths 1935
© Tate
Equivalents for the Megaliths  1935

Oil on canvas
support: 457 x 660 mm frame: 627 x 835 x 80 mm
painting

Purchased 1970

T01251
‘Megaliths’ are great standing stones, the remains of ancient temples in places such as Stonehenge; this work was inspired by the stones at Avebury, on the Wiltshire Downs. Here Nash brings together Britain’s most advanced cultural objects with its most ancient: the geometric forms are similar to those found in contemporary abstract sculpture, but are also ‘equivalents’ for prehistoric standing stones. Nash had an enduring fascination with the mystical qualities of inanimate objects. The abstract forms draw on the emotional presence of ancient monuments, integrated with the landscape, but also provide a powerful element of abstract design.
 (From the display caption September 2004)