John Nash visited Cornwall regularly between 1935 and 1976, to paint the landscape, and was especially drawn to the pits and heaps of the China Clay works around St Austell. Visiting Charlestown in 1952 with Carel Weight, he made his usual studies and on-the-spot notes for larger paintings to be worked up later in the studio. These resulted in the large watercolour 'China Clay Matterhorn', 1952 (Private Collection) and the oil 'A Panorama of Pyramids', 1953 (Government Art Collection). 'Clay Pits' is as strong an image beside them. All three place considerable emphasis on the abstract qualities of the excavated landscape, something that can be clearly seen when also examining the monochrome study for the present painting; entitled 'China Clay Country' and dated 1958 (Private Collection), that study is more straightforwardly descriptive of the forms within the pits and tips. In this oil, underlying patterns of energy are made more evident and the spoil heaps become the veritable mountains that they are in reality, great looming shapes dwarfing the buildings. There is a haunting lunar quality to this image which lingers in the imagination.

We are grateful to Andrew Lambirth for his help with this catalogue entry.