Milk for the mess

Background Information

Colin Colahan was a painter who specialised in portraiture (paintings of people) as well as painting light and shadows. He painted quickly using simple brushstrokes, which allowed him to work outdoors to paint scenes from everyday life. Colin was an official war artist during the Second World War. He travelled across Europe, painting pictures of people serving in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and European citizens impacted by the war.

This painting was created in Normandy, France, where the artist was staying in a farm house. The war had almost ended when Colin arrived in France. He travelled across the country to paint how the end of the war was affecting the lives of ordinary people. The two people wearing blue uniforms are members of the RAAF. They are carrying a silver urn containing milk. The word “mess” in the title means a space where servicemen and servicewomen would eat and relax, so we know that this painting shows Australians collecting milk from French farmers to share with members of the RAAF.

Questions

1. How many people in the painting are wearing uniforms? What do their uniforms tell you?
2. Who isn’t wearing a uniform? What are they doing in the painting?
3. Look closely at the person on the right. Can you see any details on their face? What does their body language tell you?
4. Look at the background of the painting, including the sky, the trees and the light. What sort of mood does the artist create, and how does he do it? 

Activities

1. Tear up differently coloured paper into pieces no bigger than your thumbnail. Arrange the pieces of paper to make a portrait of someone then glue them down. No pencils or paint are needed.
2. Go outside and look at the way that trees create shadows. Draw the shadow of a tree, but not the tree itself.
3. The woman on the left of the painting looks like she is speaking to the two Australians. Write a story or play about what they are saying to each other.