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Paul Nash was born in London but raised in Buckinghamshire, where he developed a passion for landscape. He trained at the Slade School, citing J. M. W. Turner and William Blake as his influences. Wounded in the First World War, Nash was appointed one of the official war artists. His surreal, often bleak vision achieved international recognition. In the 1920s, Nash produced a series of compositions each dominated by a single, mysterious object. Souvenir of Florence depicts a vast amphora (a container for wine), which Nash had sketched in Florence in 1925. Four years later, it floats above the river Arno, with the Ponte Vecchio in the background. A faceless man and woman dining in a restaurant are reflected in its polished surface. While the amphora and the restaurant suggest sensory pleasures, the distance between the couple and the urn-like quality of the amphora evoke a melancholy quality, suggestive of isolation and death.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016

In the late 1920s Nash produced a series of paintings where a single, often mysterious object dominates the composition. In this example Nash represents a vast amphora he had seen in Florence's railway station in 1925, which impressed him sufficiently that he sketched it for future reference. Four years later he used it in a surrealist setting, apparently floating above the Arno with the Ponte Vecchio glimpsed in the background. In its polished surface is caught the reflection of a faceless man and woman eating in a restaurant. As a container for wine, the amphora and its restaurant setting hint at the sensory pleasures of the body. Yet the apparent distance between the couple and the urn-like quality of the giant vessel also evoke a melancholy quality, suggestive of isolation and even death.

Gallery label for Connections (Yale Center for British Art, 2011-05-26 - 2011-09-11)

In the late 1920s Paul Nash produced a series of paintings where a single, often mysterious object dominates the composition. In Souvenir of Florence, Nash represents a vast amphora which he had seen in Florence’s railway station in 1925 and was sufficiently impressed with to sketch for future reference. Four years later he used it in a surrealist setting, apparently floating above the river Arno with the Ponte Vecchio glimpsed in the background. The reflection of a faceless man and woman eating in a restaurant is caught in the amphora’s polished surface. As a container for wine, the amphora and its restaurant setting hint at the sensory pleasures of the body. Yet, the apparent distance between the couple and the urn-like quality of the amphora also evoke a melancholy quality, suggestive of isolation and even death.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2011