Australian official war artists

The Australian War Memorial operates the Official War Art Scheme, one of the longest running and largest commissioning programs of art in Australia. The Scheme makes a rich contribution to Australian art and the documentation and interpretation of its wartime history.

The Official War Art Scheme refers to artists who have been expressly appointed by the Australian War Memorial (or its antecedents). The Memorial also commissions artists outside the Scheme to produce specific works of art.

The Scheme was initiated during the First World War and was based on similar models in Britain and Canada. The Scheme was reactivated during the Second World War, and for the Korean and Vietnam wars. In 1999 the Scheme was renewed when artists were appointed to depict peacekeeping operations in East Timor (Timor-Leste). Commissions since then have seen artists deployed to conflicts and peacekeeping operations overseas, as well as domestic operations.

Typically, the Scheme has involved an artist being embedded with Australian military forces in conflicts or peacekeeping missions, for the purpose of creating a personal and informed representation of that conflict. From the outset, the Scheme has covered both the frantic and hellish experience of battle as well as more routine subject matter, such as service people at rest or industry in wartime.

Official war artists have always balanced an objective intention with exploration of the visual and sensory dimensions of war that are often absent from other records. The works produced by official war artists include a diverse range of imagery and perceptions of conflict, and peacekeeping. This diversity has been intentionally maintained through the selection of skilled and established career artists, who work with different media and have a variety of interests, styles, and approaches to art.

Today the Official War Art Scheme continues to play an important role in the Memorial’s activities, particularly as it records and commemorates Australia’s involvement in contemporary conflicts.