Art inspired by Thaxted and Great Bardfield are among the items going under the hammer next month.

Two arts communities in Great Bardfield and Benton End in Suffolk were roughly 50 miles from each other, but both came into fruition in the mid-1930s and survived as artistic hubs until the 1970s.

Edward Bawden had attended school in Saffron Walden followed by the Cambridge School of Art which is now part of Anglia Ruskin University.

Bawden and his friend Eric Ravilious discovered Great Bardfield while cycling one summer.

They craved its peace and serenity compared to London and soon afterwards moved to Brick House, Great Bardfield with their wives Charlotte Epton and Tirzah Garwood, who were also artists.

Sworders will offer two Bawden linocuts showing Ives Farm which backed directly on to his property.

Ives Farm, Great Bardfield 1957 shows the farmer, cattle and birds, while The Road to Thaxted depicts the front of the farmhouse as a policeman cycles by.

The latter, printed in 1960, is a rare impression with vibrant colours. They carry estimates of £1,500 to £2,500 and £3,000 to £5,000 respectively.

The presence of such artistic heavyweights in the village encouraged the arrival of other artists including John Aldridge.

There are three Aldridge pieces for sale.

His oil on board Roadside Cottage, Thaxted, 1968 has a guide price of £1,000 to £1,500. The sale notes state it was exhibited at Walden's Fry Art Gallery in 1988.

His oil on panel piece, Bluegate Hall Farm, is signed and dated January 1952. His third piece is Cornwall, Summer, 1931.

The sale also has work from the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in Suffolk, founded by the artist-plantsman Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines.

The school offered students a less formal art education and one based in observation of the outside world.

There are more than 20 works by Benton End artists in the sale, including paintings by Lucy Harwood, Joan Warburton, Denise Broadley, Waverney Frederick and Paul Earee.

The art is going under the hammer through Sworders on April 5 as part of the Modern and Contemporary Art sale

See https://www.sworder.co.uk for further details.