λ JOHN NASH (BRITISH 1893-1977), WOODED LANDSCAPE WITH A ROAD λ JOHN NASH (BRITISH 1893-1977) WOODED LANDSCAPE WITH A ROAD Pencil, watercolour, pen and black ink Signed and dated 1919 (lower left) 34 x 34cm (13¼ x 13¼ in.) Provenance: From a Private Collection After the harrowing experience of the war years, Nash was keen to return to civilian life and re-engage with depicting the English landscape. In the summer of 1919 he and his new wife, Christine, spent time at Whiteleaf, Princes Risborough, where the present work is likely to have been painted. John's brother Paul, a constant painting companion throughout his life, also joined him there for several weeks in July. It was the beginning of enduring relationship with the Buckinghamshire landscape with the Nashes settling near Aylesbury in 1922. Nash frequently painted the surrounding landscape and Chiltern hills. It was a pivotal time in Nash's life with both he and his brother steadily establishing themselves as leading artists of the day. John had his first solo show at the Goupil Gallery in 1921 with an exhibition that totalled an impressive ninety works. At this time, John and Paul's work could scarcely be differentiated and although it was Paul who would go on to garner the greatest critical acclaim, John's work has always had a significant place in the portrayal of rural England. In his book Modern Masterpieces: An Outline of Modern Art (1940), critic Frank Rutter enthused: John Nash has developed his unique aesthetic viewpoint and distinctive technical method steadily and logically until he has become one of the most sensitive and beautiful landscape painters of our time.