Eric Ravilious ‘Strawberry Nets’ Greetings Card.

Ravilious depicts a remarkable scene taking place in the garden of Oare House, near Pewsey, Wiltshire. The house was owned by Sir Geoffrey Fry, who commissioned the painting, and was, amongst other things, a director of J. S. Fry & Sons, the family chocolate business. Fry engaged the architect Clough Williams-Ellis to remodel Oare House, though he is better remembered as the creator of Portmeirion in North Wales, which was used as a location during filming for the television series, ‘The Prisoner’.

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.