Paul NashBritish, 1889–1946The Eclipse of the Sunflower
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “The Eclipse of the Sunflower” now? Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Not on view at present. Checked September 25, 2026.
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
Paul Nash often incorporated a sense of mysticism into his painting. Although his starting point might be a natural object or an aspect of the landscape, he developed the symbolic imagery of his subject almost to abstraction. This watercolour, a version of an oil painting of the same title, is one of a series inspired by a poem by William Blake which begins:
Ah, Sunflower! Weary of Time
That countest the steps of the Sun;
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller's journey is done…
The poem explores the relationship between the summer sun and the flower that turns to follow it, and later compares the Sun to an ideal object of human desire. Nash here uses the black centre of the flower, a mass of dark seeds, to represent the Sun's eclipse.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Details
- Accession number
- P.19-1962
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
