Art of War: Anna Airey; A Shell Forge at a National Projectile Factory, Hackney Marshes, London, 1918

A Shell Forge at a National Projectile Factory, Hackney Marshes, London, 1918, by Anna Airy

A Shell Forge at a National Projectile Factory, Hackney Marshes, London, 1918, by Anna Airy. Anna Airy was one of the first women war artists, employed by the Imperial War Museum in 1918. Although a well-respected female artist of her generation, the committee imposed strict terms on her contract of employment, which included their right to refuse a work without payment. This piece was a particular challenge for Airy, who had to work with great speed to capture the colour of the molten shells. The factory was tremendously hot, and on one occasion the heat of the ground became so intense that her shoes were burnt off her feet.

Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/anna-airy

A few years ago, I remember sitting amazed at a news report on the BBC whereby Bees were introduced to paintings of flowers. Most paintings, the bees ignored, however, the film showed them attempting to pollinate Sunflowers By Vincent Van Gogh! Somehow he had managed to capture a real essence of the flowers that drew some of the bees to behave as if they were dealing with the real flower. (see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4150200.stm and: http://walkerjulian.tripod.com/id24.html ) I have to admit that I have had to Google it to check that my memory served me correctly!

I had a similar experience when I visited the 'Women War Artists' Exhibition at the Imperial War Museum Last year. A few of the pieces really caught my eye for differing reasons, however, with the above painting, I remember being stood in front of it, almost smelling the heat of the red hot shell casings being produced, and nearly having to shield my eyes in the gloom of the gallery against the incandescence of the same. I could almost hear the furnaces and ringing din of metal being transported and worked.

This was a painting which spoke to me as a native of one of the largest industrial estates in Europe, if not the world, in its time. A place where Henry Ford first produced his 'Model T' in England (in Blue rather than the more famous Black) in a factory that made Lancaster Bombers during the Second World War. In the 1960's and 70's I remember the thousands of men and women crowding the streets on their way home at the end of their shifts, a multitudinous wave of humanity, tired, dirty, hungry.

All of this and more came back to me as I stood gazing in amazement at 'A Shell Forge,' which is why I am sharing it with you now.

Enormous numbers of women in both World Wars worked in factories producing weapons, often in low-skilled and repetitive jobs. Nearly a million women worked in the munitions industry during the First World War, and many of the images commissioned from women artists show female weapons workers and their surroundings. Women were already working in in factories before the war, but had been concentrated in particular industries and earned low wages. The introduction of male conscription in 1916 prompted and expansion of opportunities for women entering previously male roles.

(Source: Women War Artists, Kathleen Palmer, Printed by Imperial War Museum)

Anna Airey experienced difficulty with her Ministry of Information  commission, having rejected her original painting, Airey was commissioned by the Imperial War Museum's Munitions Committee to produce four further paintings.  Above is one of the results of this commission.