Float
- Artist: Prunella Clough
- Date: 1950
- Medium: Lithograph on paper
- Dimensions: image: 168 x 114 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Float” by Prunella Clough, created in 1950. The piece is a lithograph on paper, about 6 ¾ × 4 ⅛ inches, printed directly on a single stone by the artist herself in her own studio. Clough never made formal editions; she would print five to ten copies of each print, treating the stone as an experimental surface for texture and tone.
The image shows an improvised marker buoy with a cork‑lashed post, floating in a loosely rendered landscape. Rather than a literal seascape, Clough draws on fragmentary sensory memories of industrial towns, derelict streets, and weather‑worn machinery. The buoy becomes a symbolic reference to water transport, while the textures mimic the tactile quality of frottage and drawing.
“Float” sits alongside other lithographs like *Geological Landscape* and *Can and Basket*, all part of the artist’s exploration of natural forms mixed with man‑made detritus. The work was acquired in 1984 and is part of the collection that continues to highlight British modern and contemporary art.
See it in person
Float is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
