Rye and District U3A had its most recent monthly talk on March 20, when the speaker was Andrew Ashton (a former Trustee of the Rye Art Gallery), and the subject was “Paul Nash in Dymchurch and Rye”.
The artist Paul Nash lived in this area in the twenties and thirties, partly in Rye itself, (the house in East Street has a blue plaque) and also in Iden and Dymchurch. He moved to the area after suffering a breakdown caused by the horrors he had witnessed in the First World War. The sea wall at Dymchurch was a favourite subject for him.
Many of us had seen the recent Paul Nash exhibition at Tate Britain, and it was fascinating to hear more details of Nash’s life at the time he lived here, where he was part of Rye’s artistic and literary community and was friendly with Conrad Aiken, E F Benson and Edward Burra among others. Nash’s work as a war artist in both World Wars was also considered in the talk, plus the influence of surrealists such as Giorgio de Chirico.
The U3A has a monthly talk which is generally on the third Monday of the month at 2pm in the Community Centre in Conduit Hill. However because of the Easter bank holiday, the April talk will be on April 10, when the speaker is Tony Baxter giving a talk entitled “California here we come” .
The U3A also has more than 30 interest groups covering a huge variety of interests including languages, history, mah-jong, cycling, walking, crafts and much much more. If you are interested, look at our web site for an application form https://u3asites.org.uk/rye/home or phone the membership secretary on 01797 224339. Or you can just turn up to a Monday meeting, where all are welcome.
Photo: detail of print from watercolour by Paul Nash
Image Credits: Rye Art Gallery .