Shared Experience: Art and War

Flight from reason

Stella Bowen
Flight from reason
oil on cardboard
65.4 x 54.7cm
ART91654

Even before her appointment as an official war artist, Bowen was interested in painting the devastation wrought on London by the German bombing raids. Her personal preoccupation with home as a sanctuary drew her to sights of destruction. In 1941 London was bombed extensively; the ruins in Flight from reason were located opposite the Inner Temple Church. The two sculptural forms depict John Hiccocks (reclining) and Samuel Mead (in relief).