Paul Nash (1889-1946)

The Archer

Nash was never entirely comfortable portraying the human figure in his paintings. Surrealism provided him with a solution in the form of the 'object personage': he photographed or collected objects that might stimulate his imagination and provide a cast of characters for his paintings. The first of these was a piece of driftwood he exhibited as Found Object Interpreted at the International Surrealist Exhibition in 1936.

To create The Archer Nash took a child's boat and added a glass tube, a curving piece of metal, a twig and some seaweed. In the painting the Archer aims at the object of his desire but is powerless to do more than cast a shadow in its direction. Nash explained that behind the Archer is the menacing shadow 'of a woman with long flying hair. She is always on his track. Nothing but her shadow is visible but that is quite enough for the Archer and sometime too much'.

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