Ratcliffe was born near King’s Lynn but grew up in Manchester where his father worked in the mills. After leaving school Ratcliffe worked as a clerk but attended evening classes at Man-chester School of Art, studying partly un-der Walter Crane. By 1901 he was working as a wall-paper designer. In 1906 he moved to the new Garden City of Letchworth just being constructed, perhaps drawn by the social idealism of the venture and its focus on cooperative working, par-ticularly the printing business. Ratcliffe made a living designing postcards, wallpapers and cal-endars. When Harold Gilman and his family moved to Letchworth in 1908 Ratcliffe was a neighbour. Gilman encouraged Ratcliffe to take up fine art and persuaded him to attend even-ing classes at the Slade. Gilman acted as a mentor to Ratcliffe, who was very shy, and introduced him to the Fitzroy Street painters. When the Camden Town Group was formed he was nominated by Gilman. Ratcliffe exhibited in all three exhibitions, submitting work in oils, a medium to which he was new. In 1913 he spent several months in Sweden, staying with the brother-in-law of his neighbour and sup-porter Stanley Parker.

In 1913 Ratcliffe went to Sweden to stay with his neighbours Stanley and Signe Parker. Signe was Swedish, and they stayed at her brother’s farm at Sundsholm, in the south of Sweden. The experience inspired Ratcliffe to produce some of his best work. His mentor Harold Gilman had visited Sweden the year before and this must have been a factor in his decision to make the trip. This watercolour – which recalls the delicate lines and soft, flat colours of the Swe-dish artist and designer Carl Larsson – shows the homestead at Sundsholm. It is in a distinctive frame made by Stanley Parker, decorated with sections of bone or antler that were reputedly found nearby.

From 1914 Ratcliffe moved fre-quently, staying with his brother in Hampstead Garden Suburb and Berkhamstead, and later in Sussex. He was greatly affected by Gilman’s death, and while he exhibited with the London Group from 1914 until 1926 he all but disappeared from London art circles. He lived in Letchworth in the 1930s, and then again after an absence returned in 1946. In 1954, the year before his death, he was awarded a retrospective exhibition of his work in Letchworth Museum and Art Gallery.