Biography
Nash was born in London on 11 April 1893, the younger brother of the artist Paul Nash (1889–1946). In 1901 the family moved to Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire. He was educated in Slough and afterwards at Wellington College, Berkshire.
At first he worked as a newspaper reporter, but in 1913 he exhibited landscapes with his brother at the Dorien Leigh Galleries, London, and was invited to join The London Group and the Friday Club.
In 1914 he began painting in oils. In 1915 he joined Harold Gilman in the Cumberland Market Group and in May that year exhibited with Gilman, Charles Ginner and Robert Bevan at the Goupil Gallery.
From November 1916 to January 1918 he fought in World War I in the Artists Rifles. On the recommendation of his brother, he worked as an official war artist from 1918. in May 1918 he married Dorothy Christine Kulenthal.
From 1918 to 1921 he lived at Gerrards Cross, with summer expeditions to the Chiltern Hills and Gloucestershire. In 1919 he became a member of the New English Art Club, and in 1920 was a founder member of the Society of Wood Engravers. In 1921 he became art critic for The London Mercury.
In 1921 he moved to Princes Risborough.
In 1923 he became a member of the Modern English Water-colour Society. In 1923 he worked in Dorset; in 1924 in Bath and Bristol. From 1924 to 1929 he taught at The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art (Oxford).
In 1929 he worked in Essex and Suffolk, where he bought a summer cottage. From 1934 to 1940 he taught at the Royal College of Art (London), working on wood engravings, lithographs, etc. In 1939 he visited Gower, near Swansea - the first of many visits to Gower and other parts of Wales.
He started World War II in 1939 in the Observer Corps, moving in 1940 to the Admiralty as an official war artist with the rank of Captain in the Royal Marines. He was promoted Acting Major in 1943, and relinquished his commission in November 1944.
Afterwards he lived in Essex. He joined the staff of the Royal College of Art in 1945.
He died in 1977 in Colchester.
Read more about this topic: John Nash (artist)
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