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Remembrance Day 2015
So, being a jobless bum, I took the opportunity to go to the Remembrance day ceremonies this year. Being that I didn't think of it until ten and didn't commit to it until quarter past, I was basically following along the path of the parade about two blocks behind it. So I missed that, but was there for all of the ceremony, which was nice, and included all of the usual bits - no names read, which I remember them doing in Fredericton, but maybe London is too big. There were some WWII vets on parade, plus a lot that couldn't be directly involved but who'd come out from the hospitals and retirement homes. It was nice, anyway! I'm glad I went.
I usually spend a lot of time reading war poetry, but this year instead I've been looking through some of the art from the War Artists collection that the Canadian War Museum has online. Towards the end of the First World War, Lord Beaverbrook (who was from my home province, and whose own art collection formed the basis of my hometown art gallery) set up a fund to get artists to paint Canadians at war. During the Second World War, Canada actually appointed official war artists, and commissioned pieces from other artists as well. You can read a little bit about it on the museum's site, here and here.
Anyway, I thought that I would share some of the pictures here! Though you can see them from poking around at the links above as well. All the text is taken from that site as well.
Olympic with Returned Soldiers by Arthur Lismer
The Olympic, seen here docked in Halifax, was a sister ship of the Titanic. Its hull shows the dazzle-painting technique, a form of camouflage.
"The Olympic, which has carried so many of the Canadians over, docked here last week. It was a magnificent sight."
— Arthur Lismer, Canadian First World War artist
Painted 1919
Gas Attack, Liévin by A. Y. Jackson
"I went . . . one night to see a gas attack we made on the German lines. It was like a wonderful display of fireworks, with our clouds of gas and the German flares and rockets of all colours."
— A. Y. Jackson, Canadian First World War artist
Painted 1918
Screened Road ‘A’ (unfinished) by A. Y. Jackson
This painting shows the camouflage netting that was used to hide troop movements from the enemy.
Painted 1918.
Dressing Station in the Field — Arras, 1915 by Alfred Bastien
Notable Canadian doctors Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, author of the poem "In Flanders Fields," and Lieutenant Frederick Banting, who later co-discovered insulin, served overseas in conditions such as these.
Painted 1918
Private Roy, Canadian Women's Army Corps, by Molly Lamb Bobak
Bobak sketched Private Roy several times in a canteen in Halifax, Nova Scotia, before undertaking the finished portrait. In a 1985 interview the artist commented: "The painting has caught her at a point in time; she'll always be young and she'll always be Private Roy to those who see her."
Oil on Masonite 76.4 x 60.8 cm
Painted in 1946
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
Canadian War Museum 19710261-1626
Before Zero Hour by Alex Colville
"I arose at 0500 hours on 8 February," noted Colville in his official monthly report, "and I watched medium guns firing the barrage that preceded Operation Veritable [part of the battle for Normandy]. I returned to this spot after breakfast, when it was light, and made studies. The rest of the day I spent painting Before Zero Hour, a nocturne."
Watercolour on paper 38.8 x 57.3 cm
Painted in 1945
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
Canadian War Museum 19710261-2031
Ordnance depot by Harold Beament
An anonymous typewritten note on the back of the original index card for this painting explains the dramatic imaginary scene depicted. "This is an attempt to produce the sensation of 'all Hell breaking loose' which arises when trouble has begun in an ordnance depot. Things happen unpredictably, swiftly and emphatically. There is also the confusing effect of simultaneous explosives." Affixed to the other side of the index card is a photograph of the (now lost) sketch from life on which Beament based this painting. Unlike the painting, the sketch depicts the destroyed landscape but no explosions.
Oil on canvas 61 x 76 cm
Undated
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
Canadian War Museum 19710261-1041
Invasion Pattern, Normandy by Eric Aldwinckle
Graye-sur-Mer shortly after D-Day (June 6, 1944). The title of the painting draws attention to the identification markings on the wings of the fighter aircraft, which were specific to the Allied air forces committed to the Normandy assault. It also refers to the patterns visible on the landing beach below.
Painted c. 1945
Shattered landscape, Cleve by Alex Colville
"On 19 February I painted Shattered Landscape," noted Colville in his official monthly report. "This was a broken house surrounded by huge trees which had all their branches torn off by bombs and shells. German shells kept passing over my head at ten-minute intervals, harassing a crossroads a few hundred yards behind me."
Watercolour on paper 57.2 x 38.8 cm
Painted in 1945
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
Canadian War Museum 19710261-2116
There are a ton more, from quite graphic to very slice of life - this is just a small sampling. Other countries had their own similar programs, including the UK and Australia... I'm not 100% sure what the US was doing but I assume there was something.
I usually spend a lot of time reading war poetry, but this year instead I've been looking through some of the art from the War Artists collection that the Canadian War Museum has online. Towards the end of the First World War, Lord Beaverbrook (who was from my home province, and whose own art collection formed the basis of my hometown art gallery) set up a fund to get artists to paint Canadians at war. During the Second World War, Canada actually appointed official war artists, and commissioned pieces from other artists as well. You can read a little bit about it on the museum's site, here and here.
Anyway, I thought that I would share some of the pictures here! Though you can see them from poking around at the links above as well. All the text is taken from that site as well.
Olympic with Returned Soldiers by Arthur Lismer
The Olympic, seen here docked in Halifax, was a sister ship of the Titanic. Its hull shows the dazzle-painting technique, a form of camouflage.
"The Olympic, which has carried so many of the Canadians over, docked here last week. It was a magnificent sight."
— Arthur Lismer, Canadian First World War artist
Painted 1919
Gas Attack, Liévin by A. Y. Jackson
"I went . . . one night to see a gas attack we made on the German lines. It was like a wonderful display of fireworks, with our clouds of gas and the German flares and rockets of all colours."
— A. Y. Jackson, Canadian First World War artist
Painted 1918
Screened Road ‘A’ (unfinished) by A. Y. Jackson
This painting shows the camouflage netting that was used to hide troop movements from the enemy.
Painted 1918.
Dressing Station in the Field — Arras, 1915 by Alfred Bastien
Notable Canadian doctors Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, author of the poem "In Flanders Fields," and Lieutenant Frederick Banting, who later co-discovered insulin, served overseas in conditions such as these.
Painted 1918
Private Roy, Canadian Women's Army Corps, by Molly Lamb Bobak
Bobak sketched Private Roy several times in a canteen in Halifax, Nova Scotia, before undertaking the finished portrait. In a 1985 interview the artist commented: "The painting has caught her at a point in time; she'll always be young and she'll always be Private Roy to those who see her."
Oil on Masonite 76.4 x 60.8 cm
Painted in 1946
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
Canadian War Museum 19710261-1626
Before Zero Hour by Alex Colville
"I arose at 0500 hours on 8 February," noted Colville in his official monthly report, "and I watched medium guns firing the barrage that preceded Operation Veritable [part of the battle for Normandy]. I returned to this spot after breakfast, when it was light, and made studies. The rest of the day I spent painting Before Zero Hour, a nocturne."
Watercolour on paper 38.8 x 57.3 cm
Painted in 1945
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
Canadian War Museum 19710261-2031
Ordnance depot by Harold Beament
An anonymous typewritten note on the back of the original index card for this painting explains the dramatic imaginary scene depicted. "This is an attempt to produce the sensation of 'all Hell breaking loose' which arises when trouble has begun in an ordnance depot. Things happen unpredictably, swiftly and emphatically. There is also the confusing effect of simultaneous explosives." Affixed to the other side of the index card is a photograph of the (now lost) sketch from life on which Beament based this painting. Unlike the painting, the sketch depicts the destroyed landscape but no explosions.
Oil on canvas 61 x 76 cm
Undated
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
Canadian War Museum 19710261-1041
Invasion Pattern, Normandy by Eric Aldwinckle
Graye-sur-Mer shortly after D-Day (June 6, 1944). The title of the painting draws attention to the identification markings on the wings of the fighter aircraft, which were specific to the Allied air forces committed to the Normandy assault. It also refers to the patterns visible on the landing beach below.
Painted c. 1945
Shattered landscape, Cleve by Alex Colville
"On 19 February I painted Shattered Landscape," noted Colville in his official monthly report. "This was a broken house surrounded by huge trees which had all their branches torn off by bombs and shells. German shells kept passing over my head at ten-minute intervals, harassing a crossroads a few hundred yards behind me."
Watercolour on paper 57.2 x 38.8 cm
Painted in 1945
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
Canadian War Museum 19710261-2116
There are a ton more, from quite graphic to very slice of life - this is just a small sampling. Other countries had their own similar programs, including the UK and Australia... I'm not 100% sure what the US was doing but I assume there was something.