The Teleprinter Room 1941

Eric Ravilious made this watercolor, "The Teleprinter Room," at an unknown date, likely during his service as a war artist. Watercolor has a unique relationship to labor and class because it's relatively accessible as an artform, and can be made quickly, but here the medium takes on a peculiar significance. Ravilious depicts a technological space crucial to wartime communication. The artist's delicate brushstrokes contrast with the cold, mechanical equipment, highlighting the human labor involved in operating these machines. Look closely and you will notice how the watercolor medium lends itself to rendering the play of light and shadow. The contrast between the modern teleprinter equipment and the somewhat antiquated industrial architecture, with its exposed beams, underscores the social context of wartime Britain. By focusing on the material qualities of watercolor and the social implications of the depicted scene, Ravilious blurs the line between fine art and craft, inviting us to consider the human element within the machine age.