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
