Dimensions: support: 508 x 610 mm frame: 532 x 635 x 41 mm
Copyright: © Tate | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Here we have Ceri Richards' "Blossoms," an oil painting from the Tate. I find its swirling forms and muted colors quite evocative, yet also a bit mysterious. What sort of story do you think Richards is trying to tell us here? Curator: Well, stories…perhaps more like whispers carried on the wind. I see a fusion of organic growth and industrial elements, like cogs blooming into flowers. Richards, with his Welsh roots, had a deep connection to nature, but also an awareness of the machine age encroaching upon it. Do you feel that tension? Editor: Yes, now that you mention it, the mechanical shapes do stand out. Thanks for the insight. Curator: My pleasure. It's all about seeing, isn't it? Letting the painting breathe and reveal its secrets slowly.
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Although Richards’ painting of aerial bombardment was made during the Second World War, it refers back to Mussolini’s invasion of Abyssinia in 1935.It was inspired by a florid description of the bombing campaign written by the Italian airman Count Ciano, Mussolini’s son-in-law. Describing his series of paintings on the theme, Richards commented:‘These paintings, obscurely maybe, make flowers into explosions or vice versa, aeroplanes look like aggressive plants, and an incendiary sun rises over the landscape’ Gallery label, November 2006
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