The first of The Nobile Folios explores Bathers 1917 - 18 by the acclaimed British painter Mark Gertler (1891 - 1939). The painting is set alongside Shaun Levin’s original short story ‘Trees at a Sanatorium’.

Mark Gertler was born in Spitalfields in London’s East End in 1891, the youngest son of Jewish immigrant parents. Bathers 1917-18 was painted when Gertler was only 26 and dates from a period of intensive research into Cézanne. Bathers is amongst his seminal works from the World War I period.

Shaun Levin’s story ‘Trees at a Sanatorium’ was written specifically for this publication. It is a meditation on landscape and the importance of intimacy in artistic creation. Levin wrote this story visiting places where Gertler stayed – whether out of choice or necessity – from the sanatorium at Banchory in Scotland, to Catalonia, to Paris and the gardens at Garsington Manor.

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About the Nobile Folios

The Nobile Folios are monographic explorations of 20th- and 21st-century works of art. They are published by Sylph Editions in association with Piano Nobile – a London gallery that specializes in fine quality International, Modern British and Post-War art.

Each publication explores one work, and one work only, overcoming thereby some of the inherent limitations of reproducing great art in print. The Nobile Folios explore the sections of the work and try to replicate something of the experience of seeing it in the flesh.

The juxtaposed texts that form part of The Nobile Folios are informative associations and can represent words that might come to mind when one gazes at the artwork. The association, obvious or oblique, complements our exploration and enhances our experience of it.