There are several paintings of Wiston from the early 1930s, both in oil and watercolour, and of neighbouring Stoke-by-Nayland. It was a favourite stretch of countryside, the Nashes renting a holiday home at Wiston during this period. He often painted in the district, as can be seen from 'Cornfield at Wiston', circa 1932 (private collection) and 'Late Summer', Stoke-by-Nayland (Bristol Museum & Art Gallery). The design he has alighted upon here, with the wedge shape coming down to the front of the picture, recalls 'Harvesting', a lithograph made in 1947 for the School Prints series. Nash was drawn to crisp shapes in nature, witness the strange golden conifers of 'The Flooded Meadow' (early 1950s), in the Government Art Collection.

Andrew Lambirth