The Brotherhood of Ruralists Information Website

The Brotherhood of Ruralists
Information Website

Bibliography - Books About the Group

NAVIGATION

ABOUT THE GROUP

THE ARTISTS

Former Ruralists

This page provides detals of books which are entirely about the group or which contain important sections on them. For works about the individual artists select the appropriate artist from the list on the left.

For books which have been published by the Ruralists or which were produced in association with them in order to reproduce their work, see the page on Ruralist Books.

Publications about The Ruralists

Nicholas Usherwood
The Brotherhood of Ruralists
London, Lund Humphries, 1981
SBN 901339 38 2
Paperback, 84pp, illustrated in colour and monochrome.

Produced to support the 1981 Ruralist exhibition, this is the most comprehensive essay on the work of the group up to that time. Usherwood traces their influences and reproduces a larger number of works by all 7 artists. The book is sometimes available through second-hand book dealers.

Christopher Martin
The Ruralists (Art and Design)
London, Academy Group, 1991
ISBN 1 85490 123 0
Paperback, 96pp, illustrated in colour.

A significant source of reproductions of Ruralist art and an interesting essay which has more of a biographical emphasis than the more art-critical essays of Usherwood (see above) or Moore (see below). Being produced after Blake, Inshaw and Haworth had left the group and when and a number of other artists were regularly exhibiting with them the emphasis is on the Arnolds and Ovendens with additional material on the associated artists such as Joseph Hewes, John Morley and Brian Partridge. Copies of this book are readily available from the Aznet Online Store.

Paul Binding
A Commemorative Essay. Commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art, Wales for the 20th Anniversary of the Brotherhood of Ruralists
card wrappers, 12pp.

A short essay - worth reading, but quite difficult to obtain.

Laurie Lee, Jerrold Northrop Moore, Peter Nahum
The Brotherhood of Ruralist: A Celebration
Ruralist Fine Art, September 2003
ISBN: 0-9545508-1-1
128 pages, 160 full colour illustrations, photographs, soft covers.

The most comprehensive collection of reproductions of Ruralist work together with a new essay by Jerrold Northrop Moore and a previously unpublished piece, specially written for the Ruralists by Laurie Lee. Copies of this book are readily available from the Aznet Online Store.

Essays, articles, etc. about The Ruralists included in other works

Graham Ovenden
'Ruralism & the New Romanticism'
Art and Design: The New Romantics
London, The Academy Group, December 1988
ISSN 0267-3991
Two page essay (pages 51 and 52), reproducing A Remembered Summer (Graham Arnold, 1985, oil) plus full page reproduction (page 50) of The Raven (David Inshaw, 1971, oil).
Elsewhere in the issue are reproductions of A Quiet Gathering (Graham Arnold, 1983, oil, page 18) and Rock Formation (Graham Ovenden, oil, page 19)

Godfrey Pilkington
Art and Design
The Academy Group, December 1985
ISSN 0267-3991
Contains an account of the “Continuing Tradition” exhibition and brief information about the artists and friends.

Papadakis, Adreas (Editor)
Art and Design: 20th Century British Art
London, Academy Group, 1987
ISSN 0003 8504
Vol. 3, No. 1/2 1987
Paperback, 80+pp, illustrated in colour
Various references to the Ruralists as a group and as individual artists. Reproduces work by Peter Blake, David Inshaw, Graham Ovenden and Graham Arnold.

Jerrold Northrop Moore
The Green Fuse
Antique Collector's Club, 2007
ISBN 1 85149 832 0
Hardbound, 255pp, illustrated in colour.

A significant book for anyone interested in seeing the Ruralists in an art historical context. Moore traces a thread in Englsh Pastoral art from Samuel Palmer through to the Ruralist. The Ruralist chapter contain approx 42 pages, with numerous illustrations. Copies of this book are readily available from the Aznet Online Store.

Anne Anderson, Robert Meyrick, Peter Nahum
Ancient Landscapes, Pastoral Visions: Samuel Palmer to the Ruralists
Antique Collectors Club, 2008
ISBN 978 1 85149 569 6
Softbound, 136pp, illustrated in colour.

The catalogue for the 2008 exhibition at Southampton City Art Gallery. All essays offer insight into the work of the Ruralists and all works included in the exhibition are reproduced (albeit rather small in some cases) with extensive notes.

Other useful sources

Peter Blake
Snapshots and Reference Photographs
Olympus Gallery, 1983
Soft card, 20pp
Peter Blake exhibition catalogue - contains half a dozen photographs of Ruralist artists and family members in various settings.

Ruralist 2000 Exhibition (Catalogue)
Brotherhood of Ruralists, 2000
Soft card, 12pp
Includes foreword by Jerrold Northrop Moore and colour reproductions of two painting by each of Graham Arnold, Ann Arnold, Annie Ovenden and Graham Ovenden and one by Peter Blake.

The Green Book, Issue 5, Spring/Summer 1981
Soft card, 18pp
Includes illustrations by Graham Ovenden, Graham Arnold and David Inshaw. A short price by Nicholas Usherwood discusses the 1981 Ruralist Exhibition. Also included is a short essay by Graham Ovenden on Arthur Hughes.

Updated: 23 April 2008