War artist

A war artist depicts some aspect of war through art. The art might be a pictorial record, or it might commemorate how war shapes lives.^[1] War artists explore the visual and sensory dimensions of war, often absent in written histories or other accounts of warfare.^[2]

Definition and context

A war artist creates a visual account of the impact of war by showing how men and women are waiting, preparing, fighting, suffering, celebrating,^[3] or destroyed, as in Vasily Vereshchagin's 1871 painting, The Apotheosis of War.

The works produced by war artists illustrate and record many aspects of war and the individual's experience of war, whether allied or enemy, service or civilian, military or political, social or cultural. The role of the artist and his work is to embrace the causes, course, and consequences of conflict, and has an essentially educational purpose.^[4]

Artists record military activities in ways that cameras and the written word cannot. Their art collects and distills the experiences of the men and women who endured it.^[5] The artists and their artwork affect how subsequent generations view military conflicts. For example, Australian war artists who grew up between the two world wars were influenced by the artwork which depicted the First World War, and there was a precedent and format for them to follow.^[6]

Official war artists have been appointed by governments for information or propaganda purposes and to record events on the battlefield,^[7] but there are many other types of war artists. These can include combatants who are artists and choose to record their experiences, non-combatants who are witnesses of war, and prisoners of war who may voluntarily record the conditions or be appointed war artists by senior officers.

In New Zealand, the title of appointed "war artist" changed to "army artist" after the two world wars.^[8] In the United States, the term "combat artist" has come to be used to mean the same thing.^[9][10]

Some examples and their background

• William Simpson was an artist-correspondent who sent artwork to London from the front during the Crimean War.^[11]
• Alfred Waud was an American civil war pictorial newspaper illustrator.
• Ogata Gekkō and Tsuguharu Foujita created woodblock prints for Japanese publications.
• Ronald Searle recorded life in Japanese POW camps.^[12][13]
• Emmanuel Leutze's 1851 studio painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware is historically incorrect, and Leutze was born decades after the event his painting depicts, but this work has become an icon of popular culture.

American

The American panorama created by artists whose work focuses on war began with a visual account of the American Revolutionary War. The war artist or combat artist captures instantaneous action and conflates earlier moments of the same scene within one compelling image. Artists are unlike the objective camera lens, which records only a single instant and no more.^[14]

In 1917 the American military designated American official war artists who were sent to Europe to record the activities of the American Expeditionary Forces.^[15]

In World War II, the Navy Combat Art Program ensured that active-duty artists developed a record of all phases of the war and all major naval operations.^[14]

The official war artist continued to be supported in some military engagements. Teams of soldier-artists during the Vietnam War created pictorial accounts and interpretations for the annals of army military history.^[16] In 1992 the Army Staff Artist Program was attached to the United States Army Center of Military History as a permanent part of the Museum Division's Collections Branch.^[15]

The majority of combat artists of the 1970s were selected by George Gray, chairman of NACAL, Navy Air Cooperation and Liaison committee. Some of their paintings will be selected for the Navy Combat Art Museum in the capital by Charles Lawrence, director. In January 1978 the U.S. Navy chose a seascape specialist team: they asked Patricia Yaps and Wayne Dean, both of Milford, Connecticut, to capture air-sea rescue missions off of Key West while they were based at the nearby Naval Air Station Key West. They were among 78 artists selected that year to create works of art depicting Navy subjects.^[17][18][19]

Selected artists

A select list of representative American artists includes:

Revolutionary War Ralph Earl Emanuel Leutze William B.T. Trego John Trumbull American Civil War Don Troiani Alonzo Chappel Edwin Forbes Gilbert Gaul Winslow Homer Thomas Nast Keith Rocco[20] Julian Scott Xanthus Russell Smith Alfred Waud William Waud

Spanish-American War Howard Chandler Christy Newspaper William Glackens Newspaper Henry Reuterdahl Newspaper Walter Russell Newspaper World War I William James Aylward[21] Walter Jack Duncan[21] Harvey Thomas Dunn[21] Kerr Eby Marines George Matthews Harding[21] Wallace Morgan[21] Ernest Clifford Peixotto[22] John Singer Sargent J. Andre Smith[22] Henry Tonks [22] Harry Everett Townsend, Army[22] Claggett Wilson Army

World War II Standish Backus, 1910–1989 McClelland Barclay, 1891–1942[23] George Biddle, 1885–1973 Aaron Bohrod, 1907–1992[24] Howard Brodie, 1915–2010[25][26] Joseph Bulone, 1915-2006 Jack Coggins, 1914–2006[24] Raymond Creekmore, 1905–1984 James Dietz Olin Dows[27] Edward Dugmore, 1915–1996[24] William Franklin Draper, 1912–2003[28][29] Ted Egri, 1913-2010[30] Egri served in the U.S. Navy, and painted while at sea. Examples of his WWII paintings have recently been donated to the U.S. Navy Museum, 2016. Nathan Glick Army Air Force Mitchel Jamieson, 1915–1976 Thomas Lea, 1907-2001 Ludwig Mactarian, 1908-1955 John Cullen Murphy, 1919–2004[24] Edward Reep, 1918–2013   [25][31] Henry Varnum Poor, 1887–1970 Dwight Shepler (died 1974) Mitchell Siporin, 1910–1976 Taro Yashima Yasuo Kuniyoshi

Vietnam era

Soldier Artist Participants in the U. S. Army Vietnam Combat Artists Program

• CAT I, 15 Aug – 15 Dec 1966, Roger A. Blum (Stillwell, KS), Robert C. Knight (Newark, NJ), Ronald E. Pepin (East Hartford, CT), Paul Rickert (Philadelphia, PA), Felix R. Sanchez (Fort Madison, IA), John O. Wehrle (Dallas, TX), and supervisor, Frank M. Sherman
• CAT II, 15 Oct 1966 – 15 Feb 1967, Augustine G. Acuna (Monterey, CA), Alexander A. Bogdanovich (Chicago, IL), Theodore E. Drendel (Naperville, IL), David M. Lavender (Houston, TX), Gary W. Porter (El Cajon, CA), and supervisor, Carolyn M. O'Brien
• CAT III, 16 Feb – 17 June 1967, Michael R. Crook (Sierra Madre, CA), Dennis O. McGee (Castro Valley, CA), Robert T. Myers (White Sands Missile Range, NM), Kenneth J. Scowcroft (Manassas, VA), Stephen H. Sheldon (Los Angeles, CA), and supervisor, C. Bruce Smyser
• CAT IV, 15 Aug – 31 Dec 1967, Samuel E. Alexander (Philadelphia, MS), Daniel T. Lopez (Fresno, CA), Burdell Moody (Mesa, AZ), James R. Pollock (Pollock, SD), Ronald A. Wilson (Alhambra, CA), and technical supervisor, Frank M. Thomas
• CAT V, 1 Nov 1967 – 15 March 1968, Warren W. Buchanan (Kansas City, MO), Philip V. Garner (Dearborn, MI), Phillip W. Jones (Greensboro, NC), Don R. Schol (Denton, TX), John R. Strong (Kanehoe, HI), and technical supervisor, Frank M. Thomas
• CAT VI, 1 Feb – 15 June 1968, Robert T. Coleman (Grand Rapids, MI), David N. Fairrington (Oakland, CA), John D. Kurtz IV (Wilmington, DE), Kenneth T. McDaniel (Paris, TN), Michael P. Pala (Bridgeport, CT)
• CAT VII, 15 Aug – 31 Dec 1968, Brian H. Clark (Huntington, NY), William E. Flaherty Jr. (Louisville, KY), William C. Harrington (Terre Haute, IN), Barry W. Johnston (Huntsville, AL), Stephen H. Randall (Des Moines, IA), and supervisor, Fitzallen N. Yow
• CAT VIII, 1 Feb – 15 June 1969, Edward J. Bowen (Carona Del Mar, CA), James R. Drake (Colorado Springs, CO), Roman Rakowsky (Cleveland, OH), Victory V. Reynolds (Idaho Falls, ID), Thomas B. Schubert (Chicago, IL), and supervisor, Fred B. Engel
• CAT IX, 1 Sept 1969 – 14 Jan 1970, David E. Graves (Lawrence, KS), James S. Hardy (Coronado, CA), William R. Hoettels (San Antonio, TX), Bruce N. Rigby (Dekalb, IL), Craig L. Stewart (Laurel, MD), and supervisor, Edward C. Williams

Recent conflicts

• Kristopher Battles, Iraq and Afghanistan^[9]
• Henry Casselli^[32]
• Michael D. Fay, Iraq and Afghanistan^[9]
• Robert W. Bates, Afghanistan^[33][34][35]
• Victor Juhasz, Afghanistan^[36]
  • 
    Sergeant Than Naing of Wounded Warrior Battalion, East, sketched by Robert William Bates, 2011.

Australian

War artists have depicted all the conflicts in which Australians have been called to combat. The Australian tradition of "official war artists" started with the First World War. Artists were granted permission to accompany the Australian Imperial Force to record the activities of its soldiers. During the Second World War, the Australian War Museum, later called the Australian War Memorial, engaged artists. At the same time, the Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy, and Royal Australian Air Force appointed official war artist-soldiers from within their ranks.^[37] These embedded war artists have depicted the activities of Australian forces in Korea, Vietnam, East Timor, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

The ranks of non-soldier artists like George Gittoes continue to create artwork which becomes a commentary on Australia's military actions in war.^[38]

Selected artists

A select list of representative Australian artists includes:

Second Boer War William Dargie CBE, 1912–2003[39] First World War George Bell, 1878–1966[40] Charles Bryant, 1883–1937[40] Will Dyson, 1880–1938[40] A. Henry Fullwood, 1863–1930[40] George Lambert ARA, 1873–1930[40] Fred Leist, 1878–1945[40] John Longstaff, 1862–1941[40] Louis Frederick McCubbin, 1890–1952[41] Harold Septimus Power, 1877–1951[40] James Quinn, 1869–1951[40] Arthur Streeton, 1867–1943[40]

Second World War Stella Bowen, 1893–1947[42] Norma Bull, 1906-1980[43] Colin Colahan, 1897–1987[44] William Dargie CBE, 1912–2003[42] William Dobell OBE, 1899–1970[45] Russell Drysdale AC, 1912–1981[46] Richard Eurich, OBE, RA, 1903–1992[47] Murray Griffin, 1903–1992[42] Nora Heysen AM, 1911–2003[42] Frank Hodgkinson AM, 1919–2001[42] Nora Heysen AM, 1911–2003[42] Alan Moore, 1914-2015[42] Sydney Nolan OM, AC, 1917–1992.[48] William Edwin Pidgeon, 1909–1981 Grace Cossington Smith AO, 1892–1984[49]

Recent conflicts Rick Amor, b. 1948, Peacekeeping in East Timor.[50] Conway Bown, b. 1966, Australian Army War Artist[51] Peter Churcher, b. 1964, War on Terrorism.[50] George Gittoes AM, b. 1949.[38] Shaun Gladwell, b. 1972, War in Afghanistan.[50] Ivor Hele, 1912–1993, Korean War[50] Ken McFadyen, 1939–1997, Vietnam War[50] Lewis Miller, b. 1959, War in Iraq.[50] Frank Norton, 1916–1983, Korean War[50] Wendy Sharpe, b. 1960, Peacekeeping in East Timor[50]

Austrian

• Alfred Basel
• Roman Zenzinger

British

British participation in foreign wars has been the subject of paintings and other works created by Britain's war artists. Artwork like the 1688 painting,The Fleet at Sea by Willem van de Velde the Younger depict the Royal Navy in readiness for battle. The Ministry of Defence art collection includes many paintings showing battle scenes, particularly naval battles.^[52] Military art and portraiture has evolved along with other aspects of war. The British official war artists of the First World War created a unique account of that conflict. The British War Artists Scheme expanded the number of official artists and enlarged the scope of their activities during the Second War.^[53]

Significant themes in the chronicle of twentieth-century wars have been developed by non-military, non-official, civilian artists. For example, society portraitist Arabella Dorman's paintings of wounded Iraq War veterans inspired her to spend two weeks with three regiments in different frontline areas: the Green Jackets at Basra Palace, the Queen's Own Gurkhas at Shaibah Logistics Base ten miles south-west of Basra, and the Queen's Royal Lancers in the Maysaan desert. In the field, Dorman drew quick charcoal portraits of the men she met. Returning to England, the sketches she made helped her use art to "evoke the emotions and psychological impact of war," rather than depicting the "physical horror" of war.^[54]

Selected artists

A select list of representative British artists includes:

Napoleonic Wars Denis Dighton, 1792–1827[55] Robert Ker Porter, 1777–1842[56] John Christian Schetky,1778–1874[52] Crimean War Jerry Barrett, 1824–1906[57] Oswald Brierly, 1817–1894[58] William Simpson 1823–1899[59] Boer Wars John Henry Frederick Bacon, 1868–1914[60] René Bull, 1872–1942 Charles Edwin Fripp, 1854–1906[61] Godfrey Douglas Giles, 1857–1941[62] Ernest Prater, 1864–1950[63] Melton Prior, 1845–1910[64] Frederic Villiers, 1851–1922 William Barnes Wollen, 1857–1936 First World War Muirhead Bone, 1888–1953.[65] Sydney Carline, 1888-1929. Colin Gill, 1892-1940. Eric Kennington RA, 1888–1960.[66] John Hodgson Lobley RA, 1878–1954.[67][68] Olive Mudie-Cooke, 1890-1925. John Nash CBE RA, 1893–1977.[69] Paul Nash, 1889-1946.[70] C.R.W. Nevinson, 1889-1946.[71] Sir William Orpen KBE RA RHA, 1878–1931.[72] Sir Stanley Spencer RA, 1891–1959.[73]

Second World War George Worsley Adamson RE, 1913–2005[74] Edward Ardizzone CBE RA, 1900–1979[75] Richard Eurich RA, 1903–1992[76] Edward Bawden RA, 1903–1989[77] Henry Carr RA, 1894–1970[78] Jack Bridger Chalker, 1918–2014 Leslie Cole, 1910-1976 Charles Cundall, 1890-1971, Anthony Gross, 1905-1984[79][80] Bernard Hailstone, 1910–1987[65] Thomas Hennell, 1903–1945[65] Eliot Hodgkin, 1905–1987[81] Laura Knight DBE RA, 1877–1970[82] (Thomas) John Mansbridge, 1901-1981.[83] Philip Meninsky, 1919–2007.[84] James Morris, 1908—1989 Ashley George Old, 1913–2001[85] Cuthbert Orde, 1888–1968[86] John Piper, 1903–1992 Roland Vivian Pitchforth, 1911–1999[65] Eric Ravilious, 1903–1942[87] Albert Richards, 1919–1945[88] Henry Rushbury, KCVO RA 1898–1968 Stella Schmolle, 1908-1975 Ronald Searle CBE RDI, 1920–    [12] Ruskin Spear RA, 1911–1990[89] Sir Stanley Spencer RA, 1891–1959.[90] Graham Sutherland OM, 1903–1980[91] Carel Weight CBE RA, 1908–1997[92] John Worsley, 1919–2000

Recent conflicts Richard Johnson, b. 1966 Derek Eland, b. 1961 (Afghanistan, 2011)[93] Peter Howson, b. 1958[94][95] John Keane, b. 1954[94][96] Linda Kitson, b. 1945 (Falklands, 1982)[94][97][98] Xavier Pick, b. 1972 (Iraq with British and US Forces, 2009-2011) Steve Mumford, b. 1960 (Iraq with US Forces) Paul Seawright, b 1965 (Afghanistan) Imperial War Museum Commission Portrait of POW "Dusty" Rhodes. A three-minute sketch by Ashley George Old painted in Thailand

Belgian

First World War

• Alfred Bastien, 1873—1955^[99]

Canadian

Representative works by Canada's artists whose work illustrates and records war are gathered into the extensive collection of the Canadian War Museum. A few First World War paintings were exhibited in the Canadian Senate Chamber, and artists studied these works as a way of preparing to create new artworks in the conflict in Europe which expanded after 1939.^[100]

“

"The war art commissions brought intense focus to the observation of Canada's role in international conflict... A driving need for a strong national identity urged First and Second World War artists toward symbolism. While these vivid images are of a now distant past, they continue to communicate their messages to us, and so never lose their relevance."[101]

”

In the Second World War, Canada expanded its official art program;^[100] Canadian war artists were a kind of journalist who lived the lives of soldiers.^[101] The work of non-official civilian artists also became part of the record of this period. Canada supported Canadian official war artists in both the First World War and the Second World War; no official artists were designated during the Korean War.^[102]

Among Canada's embedded artist-journalist teams was Richard Johnson, who was sent by the National Post to Afghanistan in 2007 and 2011; his drawings of Canadian troops were published and posted online as part of the series "Kandahar Journal".^[103]

Selected artists

A select list of representative Canadian artists includes:

First World War

• John William Beatty, 1869–1941^[101]
• Alexander Young Jackson CC CMG, 1882–1974^[101]
• Arthur Lismer CC, 1885–1969^[101]
  

  Capt. Will Ogilvie, Official army war artist, with some of his paintings, 9 February 1944
• Frederick Varley, 1881–1969^[101]
• Mabel May, 1877-1971^[104]

Second World War

• Eric Aldwinckle, 1909-1980^[105]
• Donald Kenneth Anderson, 1920–2009^[106]
• Alan Brockman Beddoe OC OBE HFHS FHSC, 1893–1975^[107]
• Molly Lamb Bobak CM ONB, 1922–    ^[108]
• Paraskeva Clark^[109]
• David Alexander Colville PC CC ONS, 1920–2013^[110]
• Charles Fraser Comfort OC, 1900–1994^[111]
• Lawren P. Harris, 1910-1994
• William Abernethy Ogilvie CM MBE, 1901–1989
• George Campbell Tinning RCA, 1910-1996^[112]
• Jack Shadbolt OC OBC, 1909–1998^[101]

Recent conflicts

• Richard Johnson, b. 1966
• Edward Zuber, b. 1932    ^[113]

Chinese

• Li Hua
• Feng Zikai

Dutch

• Pieter Snayers
• Philips Wouwerman

French

During the First World War, the work of artists depicting aspects of the military conflict were put on display in official war art exhibitions.^[114] In 1916 the Ministry of Beaux-Arts and the Ministry of War sponsored the Salon des Armées to show the work of the artists who had been mobilized. This one exhibition realized 60,000 francs. The proceeds supported needy artists at home and the disabled.^[114]

• Hippolyte Bellangé
• Nicolas Toussaint Charlet
• Edouard Detaille
• Antoine-Jean Gros
• Constantin Guys
• Eugène Louis Lami
• Louis-François, Baron Lejeune
• Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier
• Alphonse-Marie de Neuville
• Paul Philippoteaux
• Paul Alexandre Protais
• Denis Auguste Marie Raffet
• Carle Vernet
• Horace Vernet
• Antoine Watteau
• Adolphe Yvon

German

• Emmanuel Leutze
• Adolf Menzel

Franco-Prussian War

• Georg Bleibtreu
• Wilhelm Camphausen
• Emil Hünten
• Carl Röchling
• Anton von Werner

First World War

• Luitpold Adam^[115]
• Otto Dix
• Theodor Rocholl

Second World War

• Luitpold Adam^[116]
• Heinrich Amersdorffer^[117]
• Conrad Hommel^[118]
• Alfred Hierl^[118]

Recent conflicts

• Frauke Eigen, b. 1969^[119][120]

Japanese

• Kubota Beisen, 1852–1906^[121]
• Toyohara Chikanobu, 1838–1912^[122]
• Tsuguharu Foujita, 1886–1968^[123]
• Ogata Gekkō, 1859–1920^[124]
• Toshihide Migita, 1862–1925^[125]
• Utagawa Yoshiiku, 1833–1904^[126]

Korean

• Kim Seong-hwan, 1932–    ^[127]

New Zealand

War artists have been appointed by the government to supplement the record of New Zealand’s military history.^[128] The title of "war artist" changed to "army artist" when Ion Brown was appointed after the two world wars.^[129]

Conservators at the National Art Gallery considered the collection to be of historic rather than artistic worth; few were displayed.^[130] New Zealand's National Collection of War Art encompasses the work of artists who were working on commission for the Government as official war artists, while others created artworks for their own reasons.^[131]

Selected artists

A select list of representative New Zealand artists includes:

First World War

• George Edmund Butler^[132]
• Nugent Herman^[129]

Second World War

• James Boswell, 1906–1971^[133]
• Russell Clark, 1905–1966^[134]
• John McIndoe, 1898–1995;^[135]
• Peter McIntyre OBE, 1910–1995^[136]

Recent conflicts

• Graham Braddock^[129]
• Ion Brown,^[137] Bosnia and Croatia^[129]
• Matthew Gauldie,^[138] Solomon Islands and Afghanistan^[139]

Russian

• Mikhail Avilov
• Nikolai Baskakov
• Lev Chegorovsky
• Vladimir Chekalov
• Aleksandr Deyneka
• Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburgsky
• Rudolf Frentz
• Nikolay Karazin
• Aleksey Kivshenko
• Victor Korovin
• Alexander Kotzebue
• Lev Lagorio
• Viktor Poltavets
• Franz Roubaud
• Nikolai Samokish
• Alexander Sauerweid
• Nikolay Sauerweid
• Vasily Vereshchagin
• Bogdan Willewalde

South African

• Neville Lewis (World War II)

Spanish

• Francisco de Goya, eg, The Disasters of War, The Third of May 1808, 1810s
• Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937.
• Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau 1964^[140]

See also

• Norman Wilkinson (artist)
• War photography

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

• Mémorial de Caen, 1914–1918 war, Artists of the First World War
• Ministry of Defence (MoD), MoD art collection, war artists
• National Archives (UK), The Art of War