Stephen Wood reviews the Bawden and Ravilious show at Scarborough Art Gallery

I thought I was new to the work of both Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden until I realised I’d seen Knole Park 1929, a design for wallpaper, at the Design Museum many years ago. Work in this exhibition goes from the late 1920s right through to the 1990s and shows an extraordinary range of painting, print making – lithograph and linocut – and one very witty collage.

Near the beginning of the exhibition two beautiful watercolours, pencil on paper: Views from Great Bardfield 1932 by Eric Ravilious and The Pond, Great Bardfield 1933 by Edward Bawden. Two different artists here with their take on views of Great Bardfield, yet again you recognise it’s the same place. I notice both are from the Tom Laughton Collection - what a canny collector he was.

Edward Bawden’s Knole Park strikes me as a fine example of the versatility of this artist, given it’s from 1929 – some three years before the Great Bardfield watercolour. Spend a moment at Bawden’s lithograph of New Haven Harbour 1937, great art-deco type lines here, then look at Ravilious’s Paddle Steamers at Night. Beautifully constructed pieces.  Then suddenly we fast-forward to Bawden’s Tyger Tyger, a print from 1991 in a totally different style. Tucked away are a couple of stunning John Piper pieces and, dominating the larger of the two rooms, Bawden’s bizarre Two Bays – if you live in Scarborough find your street.

Finally, out on the walls overlooking the foyer, are a couple of late linocuts of Brighton – I particularly liked Brighton Pier.

See this exhibition before it ends; it’s a gem, showing yet again that Scarborough can give you good value more often than you think.

East Coasting runs until 4 May at Scarborough Art Gallery