Eric Ravilious ‘Aldeburgh Bathing Machines’ Greetings Card.

This is another of the paintings Eric Ravilious produced during his stay in Aldeburgh (see The Lifeboat). While all the others are bright, airy and fresh, ‘Aldeburgh Bathing Machines’ makes an unusual addition, with the yellow sand mirrored in the equally granular sky, down through which beams what appears to be a spotlight illuminating the last bathing machines on the left. These machines were growing scarce by the 1930s, having previously been a common fixture to enable the modest bather to change in privacy and not have to walk to far to the water. Eric Ravilious (22 July 1903 – 2 September 1942) was an exceptional watercolourist, wood engraver and designer. He grew up in the shadow of the Sussex Downs in the coastal town of Eastbourne, the surrounding landscape of which heavily influenced many of his best known works. His instantly recognisable style, palette and choice of subject have an almost universal appeal, a blend which has increased in popularity with the passing of time, particularly in the first two decades of the 21st century.