We’ve just returned from the new film about Eric Ravilious, Drawn to War, and it is very good indeed. I have been interested in his work for some time, but the sight of his work on the large screen really makes you appreciate the subtlety of his technique and the extraordinary control he had over the hand, making possible an apparently endless series of exceptionally precise strokes of the brush. His control over the medium of watercolour was remarkable.
It was interesting also that two of the contemporary figures whose comment was included in the film were Grayson Perry and Alan Bennett, both of whom are noted (at least in part) for their articulation of what we might understand by “Englishness”.
I think that it will take several days for me to digest this experience.