What are the connections between William Blake, the painters Paul Nash, Graham Sutherland, John Piper; and the writers John Cowper Powys, Peter Ackroyd, Elizabeth Bowen and Iain Sinclair?
How did Doctor Dee, astrologer and alchemist to Queen Elizabeth I, get onto celluloid?
How is the Spirit of Place (psychogeography) relevant now? Does the Spirit of Place still exist in our culture or have we lost our spiritual heritage to the conglomeration of market forces and corporate art? Quietly, out of the mainstream hype, artists are exploring the landscape, revealing its secret language through painting, writing, film-making and multimedia.
PETER WOODCOCK has had a love of Neo-Romanticism since his student days. At the RCA in the early Sixties he was tutored by Edward Bawden, who himself was taught by Paul Nash, one of the precursors of the Neo-Romantic movement. Peter has worked as an illustrator on a wide range of publications and taught for over twenty years at Camberwell College of Art, London.
Based on the themes of alchemy and ancient myths, he has exhibited his work in London, New York, Bristol and Glastonbury. In 1998 he co-produced The Complex Vision for HTV on the writer John Cowper Powys.
Try out the copious samples below to get a good taste of this fascinating book.
WE ARE MAKING A NEW WORLD
CHAPTER ONE
AWAKE ALBION! AWAKE!
William Blake
CHAPTER TWO
THE VALLEY OF VISION
The works of Samuel Palmer
CHAPTER THREE
FALLING STARS AND MONSTROUS MOONS
The art of Paul Nash
CHAPTER FOUR
BARBED NATURE - PIERCED FLESH
The work of Graham Sutherland
CHAPTER FIVE
ENGLAND DREAMING
The works of John Piper
CHAPTER SIX
BOMB SITES, CORSICA AND A BIT OF ROUGH
The art of John Minton
CHAPTER SEVEN
INTO THE LABYRINTH
The World of Michael Ayrton
CHAPTER EIGHT
KEITH VAUGHAN
The Male Muse
CHAPTER NINE
NATURE UNBOUND
The work of Prunella Clough
CHAPTER 10
FOLLY TO BE WISE
The world of Barbara Jones
CHAPTER 11
BYZANTINE LANDSCAPE
John Craxton
CHAPTER 12
READING THE LANDSCAPE
CHAPTER 13
JOHN COWPER POWYS
The way of the magician
CHAPTER 14
ARTHUR MACHEN
The Hill of Dreams
CHAPTER 15
DENTON WELCH
A Voice through a Cloud
CHAPTER 16
RUINS, SHADOWS AND MOONLIGHT
The writings of Elizabeth Bowen
CHAPTER 17
GEOFFREY HOUSEHOLD
Rogue Male
CHAPTER 18
THE ART OF SHADOWS
The novels of Peter Ackroyd
CHAPTER 19
WALKING THE RUNES
Occult geography - the writings of lain Sinclair
CHAPTER 20
CHRIS PETIT
The Lost Domains: Soho and Fitzrovia
CHAPTER 21
THE CELLULOID VISION
CHAPTER 22
POWELL AND PRESSBURGER
Stairway to the stars, and...
BASH STREET KIDS
Charles Crichton
CHAPTER 23
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
David Lean
CHAPTER 24
CELLULOID GOTHIC
The Innocents - Jack Clayton
CHAPTER 25
ANGELIC CONVERSATIONS
The work of Derek Jarman
CHAPTER 26
RADIO ON
by Chris Petit
CHAPTER27
JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE WORLD
Two films by Patrick Keiller
CHAPTER 28
A RETURN TO THE GARDEN
David Blackburn
CHAPTER 29
SECRET LANDSCAPES
The art of Derek Hyatt
CHAPTER 30
THE SPIRIT OF PLACE
Chapter 31
RE-ENCHANTING THE LAND
Neo-Romanticism and beyond