Mansions of the Dead

Mediums: paper, watercolor, pencil.
Location: The Tate Gallery, London (the UK).

Briefly about the painting:

This picture was originally made as an illustration of the essay by Thomas Brown and became an independent work. Another version of the work was included in the International Exhibition of Surrealists in London in 1936. Brown’s mystical treatise reflects on death and immortality, and Paul Nash’s composition represents a free surrealistic interpretation of the text. According to the author himself, he showed “air inhabitants, the soul of which was like a bird or some air creature”. Such a thought explains both the geometric constructions extending beyond the clouds and the presence of different birds.