Shared Experience: Battle

Art and War

• Introduction
• Battle
• Work
• Leisure
• Service
• Casualties
• Captivity
• Home
• Artists

Battle is the obvious starting point for an exhibition of works of art on the Second World War; it reflects the heroism and excitement that exists alongside the inevitable destruction and loss. It is about people and the battles they fought on land or sea and in the air, but also covers the artists who tried to capture the drama and consequences of these events on canvas and paper. The works dealing with the battles fought on land show soldiers undertaking manoeuvres or lying exhausted after operations. Warships surge through the water in a flurry of activity amid the awesome beauty of shell-bursts. Aircraft crews try to avoid the searchlights while they fight their aerial battles. Destruction is everywhere: wrecked aircraft and ships, bombed-out buildings, blasted trees.

Paintings