Inscribed l.l.: Ps.83 They Walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course'

Pen and ink, 25.5 by 38 cm (10 by 15 ins)

Literature: Judy Brook, Arthur Wragg, Twentieth-Century Artist, Prophet and Jester, Sansom & Co, 2001, p.57 (illustrated)

Wragg’s masterpiece as an illustrator was his work The Psalms of Modern Life, first published in 1933. This uncompromising book ran to ten reprints within the first three years of its publication and was sold across the world. Each of Wragg’s illustrations to the Psalms are contemporary social comments on the contents of the Biblical texts. They promoted Wragg’s own strong radical agenda and his perception of the damage in society. This chimed remarkably well with the economically (and arguably spiritually) depressed world of the early 1930s. The present work, one of his most impactful, is the illustration for Psalm 83 for the book.