Art from War

Gassed: John Singer Sargent

Although this blog is ostensibly about Trench Art, I have tried to make it cover a wider subject area (actually, it is just about things that really interest me, and that I want to share with a wider audience)! As an artist, I thought that it might be of interest to readers if I actually covered the area of ‘War Art’ and the ‘War Artists’ that created these pieces, and continue to do so today. I have illustrated some of the poems and articles with images of some of the better known pieces that I have come across at different times. Mainly, I must admit, from the collection in the Imperial War Museum, London, which never ceases to enthral me on each visit.

Imperial War Museum, London

A couple of years ago, they held an exhibition specifically on ‘Women War Artists.’ If my memory serves me correctly, this was the first time that these women had ever been honoured as a whole, with a specific exhibition celebrating their work and contribution. I found much of it to reflect the images created by their male counterparts, but a few pieces took my breath away at the obvious femininity, and a real sense of a woman’s perspective, be she military or civilian. I will cover this exhibition at a later date.

Rozanne Hawksley: Pale Armistice 1991

The War Artists were commissioned by the British Government during the First World War. It was an unprecedented act of government sponsorship of the Arts, and was initiated by Charles Masterman, the head of the British Governments nascent propaganda unit.

‘It was intended to produce images for reproduction in books and other publications; in subsequent projects, this broadened out to encompass social history and commemoration… At the core of the programme a desire to restate the values of British society as liberal and socially inclusive, and not to follow the tradition of battle images of glorious victory, either real or imagined… As the scheme evolved, they would explore every aspect of conflict, from the immesurable violence of the Western Front to the hastened social and industrial change it demanded at home.’

(Source; Art From the First World War: Imperial War Museum: Introduction)

CWR Nevinson: Column on the March

Many of the artists were the ‘society artists’ of the day, alongside the younger, more radical generation, influenced more by the modern aesthetic than harking back to the great masters, and chocolate box paintings images of the Victorian age. In doing so, I believe that the story being told through these images and artefacts have a life beyond the conventions and aesthetics of Art History to that date, and more, perhaps influenced the course of art for future generations.

If you are visiting London, and in particular, The Imperial War Museum, their art galleries are a real gem not to be missed. My experience is that they are usually ignored or overlooked by the vast majority of visitors, which makes them a quiet and contemplative reprieve from the hordes of school parties etc. I have often had them completely to myself, giving the time and space to explore and take in the magnitude of the conflicts depicted.

Each week, I will endeavour to highlight a piece or two from the collection at the Imperial War Museum, and perhaps from a wider base. For example, the Tate held an exhibition on Water Colour Painting which had a whole section on War Art, which was incredibly thought provoking, and some of these images may be used. I may also look at images from Goya’s Disasters of War, and the Picasso masterpiece, Gurnica, as well as some of the more modern pieces such as Steve McQueen’s ‘Queen and Country.’

Henry Tonks: Facial Paintings

War is still all around us, as are artists making work inspired by its horrors. In exploring these artefacts, I do not see it as a dry, historical look at a bygone age and conflict, more of questioning that if we could get it so wrong in the past, how can we still be making the same mistakes today? Men and women, both combatants and civilian, are being brutalised and butchered alongside vast numbers of children. In the comfort of our own homes, we can choose to turn off the 24hour news coverage, and pretend that these things are not happening. We can sleep easy in our beds knowing that there will be no ‘knock on the door’ in the middle of the night, and no heavy artillery bombarding our homes and communities.

Steve McQueen: Queen and Country

We can turn off our television or radio sets, but the reality of war still exists for millions of people around the world. Ignoring that fact will not change this situation, and it will not stop the slaughter.