| Places | |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | ART02783 |
| Collection type | Art |
| Measurement | sheet: 25.4 x 35.7 cm; image: 24.8 x 33.8 cm |
| Object type | Work on paper |
| Physical description | watercolour, pencil on thick wove paper |
| Maker |
Lambert, George |
| Place made | Ottoman Empire: Palestine, Deiran |
| Date made | March 1918 |
| Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Bedouin gun thief or runner, a very 'crook' character, Deiran
Description
Depicts a light horseman wearing a slouch hat and great coat holding a rifle with a bayonet and facing a captured Bedouin. The Bedouin is bearded and bare-footed, and wears a keffiyeh and brown and cream djellaba. Lambert once wrote of the Bedouin: 'The Bedouin is too beautiful and too lousy for words'. (Lambert 1938, p. 78). The work is from Lambert's first visit to Palestine and Egypt in 1918 as official war artist with the AIF. Lambert visited Deiran in March 1918. The Australian troops serving in the Middle East harshly judged the Bedouin and believed they were ready to steal and act as spies for the Turks.