Kimmeridge
Kimmeridge Bay forms part of what is now termed the Jurassic Coast, and is renowned for its unique geology, comprising a bedrock of clay topped in places by Portland stone, overlain by layers of bituminous shale and dolomite, which form distinctive flat ledges within the bay that are exposed at low tide. Nash was fascinated by its unique geology and photographed its foreshore many times.
The location gives its name to the Kimmeridgian, a division of the Jurassic period during when the beds were laid down, but primarily as a means of identifying the unique qualities of the cliffs and the fossils they yield.
Nash visited Kimmeridge often and made many watercolours and drawings, listed here, as well as more elaborate narratives that evoked the mythical spirit of the place. In 1937, he made a further pencil and watercolour work, Kimmeridge Folly, which formed the basis of his poster for the Shell ‘Landmark’ poster series, and featured the Clavell Tower.
Amongst the large portfolio of black and white photographs taken by Paul Nash (1,267 negatives held by the Tate Gallery, TGA 7050 PH) there are many of the rocky foreshore of Kimmeridge Bay and the flat ledges leading out into the bay (see for example TGA 7050 PH / 942, 945, 946, 947) dated between 1935-36.
There are also examples of the double exposures, with which Nash experimented, see for example TGA 7050 PH / 950. The folio of 1,267 negatives was presented by the Paul Nash Trust in 1970. See: Simon Grant, Informal Beauty: the Photographs of Paul Nash (Tate Publishing: London, 2016).
Kimmeridge
1935
Pencil and watercolour with colour notes
H 26.7 x W 38.1 cm
Andrew Causey, Paul Nash Catalogue Raisonné (Oxford, 1980) cat. no.841, p.432.
Penny Denton, ‘Seaside Surrealism’ Paul Nash in Swanage (Durlstone, 2002) cat.27.
Artnet: http://www.artnet.com/artists/paul-nash/kimmeridge-shore-dorset-7GbaTHtol-d3Z5ONk3RFtg2
Kimmeridge Folly
1937
Pencil and watercolour
H 38.1 x W 55.9 cm
Andrew Causey, Paul Nash Catalogue Raisonné (Oxford, 1980) cat. no.903, p.438.
Penny Denton, ‘Seaside Surrealism’ Paul Nash in Swanage (Durlstone, 2002)
cat.no.66.
This picture resulted from a Shell advertising contract was used for the lithographic poster in the Shell ‘Follies’ series.
Kimmeridgian Ghost
1942
Pencil and watercolour
H 38.1 x W 55.9 cm
Anthony Bertram, Paul Nash, the Portrait of an Artist (London: Faber and Faber, 1955) p.286.
Andrew Causey, Paul Nash Catalogue Raisonné (Oxford, 1980) cat.no.1102.
Penny Denton, ‘Seaside Surrealism’ Paul Nash in Swanage (Durlstone, 2002) cat.77.
Margot Eates (ed.), Paul Nash: Paintings, Drawings and Illustrations (London, 1948) p.80.
Kimmeridgian Ghost, the Turtle
1942
Pencil, chalk and watercolour
H 38.1 x W 55.9 cm
Anthony Bertram, Paul Nash, the Portrait of an Artist (London: Faber and Faber, 1955) p.286.
Andrew Causey, Paul Nash Catalogue Raisonné (Oxford, 1980) cat.no.1103.
Penny Denton, ‘Seaside Surrealism’ Paul Nash in Swanage (Durlstone, 2002) cat.78.
Margot Eates (ed.), Paul Nash: Paintings, Drawings and Illustrations (London, 1948) p.80, pl 118a as Ghost of the Turtle.