War Artists

War is ugly and brutal. It is messy and destructive. But it also inspires creativity - from scientific, technological and medical inventions and developments to great art and culture. War artists are fascinating as they capture and portray moments in the heat of battle that inform and inspire those who weren't there. Of course this can be propaganda; slanted in whichever direction is required to get the desired message across. They highlight situations and individuals and hold them in an artistic embrace; imbuing commonplace events with eloquent significance.

Some time ago I went to the Australian War Memorial and enjoyed some of this sensational art. Here are some of my favourites in very different styles.

Moresby Picture Show (1943) by Charles Bush

Light entertainment provided a necessary distraction from the hard jungle fighting and difficult living conditions in New Guinea. In this work, a vibrant Disney cartoon is oddly set in a war zone and contrasted against the drab green of the mountainous tropical landscape. The searchlight in the distance is a subtle reminder of the war. 

The weight and weariness of the soldiers in the foreground are contrasted with the lightness of subject and the luminosity of the Disney character projected on the screen. The figures stand stoically still in the drizzling rain and uncomfortable conditions, enjoying the simple pleasures of the light entertainment. Each silhouette is unique, and the distinctive Australian slouch hat can be seen on the figure on the far left of the picture.

The tropical climate of New Guinea presented soldiers with harsh conditions for both combat and general living. Most were not accustomed to the high humidity, let alone the inhospitable jungle and terrain. Those stationed at Port Moresby would have greeted the screening of films with much anticipation, welcoming any distraction from the realities of day-to day living in New Guinea. Such events also provided the artist with atypical subject matter and an opportunity to record less grim aspects of wartime activity.

Hospital Ward, Burma-Thailand Railway (1946) by Murray Griffin

This work pictures Australian prisoners of war who were forced by the Japanese to build the Burma-Thailand railway. The artist depicted the atrocious conditions in the labour camps based on eyewitness reports by survivors. Griffin's use of light and shade in this work accentuates the physical condition and obvious suffering of the men as they struggle to survive malnutrition and disease, as well as drawing comparisons to the depths of hell. The skeletal men are barely distinguishable from the makeshift bamboo shelter. 

Griffin was serving as an official war artist in Singapore when it was captured, and became a prisoner of war in Changi. He originally volunteered to go to the railway, thinking conditions might be better, but gave up his spot for another man and remained in Changi for his entire captivity. Griffin was appalled by the condition the men returned in from the railway, and sought to make records of events and conditions that occurred on the railway from survivor testimony.

Bomber Crew (1944) by Stella Bowen

On 27 April 1944 at RAF Station Binbrook in Lincolnshire, Stella Bowen drew studies for a planned group portrait of a Lancaster Bomber crew, comprising six Australians and one Englishman, of no. 460 Squadron. This was the most highly-decorates Australian squadron in Bomber Command, but had suffered the highest casualties. Bowen was commissioned to paint a typical crew that flew Lancaster bombers on the intense bombing raids over Germany and occupied Europe. Preoccupied with their flight preparations, the men expressed no particular interest in Bowen's attempt to draw them, but their bravery, youth and vulnerability captivated the artist.

The next day the crew was reported missing, presumed dead: only Pilot Officer Thomas Lynch survived. Bowen completed the group portrait from sketches and official photographs. She wrote, "It was horrible having to paint the picture after the men were lost: like painting ghosts."The crew is depicted in front of the menacing image of their Avro Lancaster bomber, looming above them like a bird. They are shown wearing their full flying gear including 'Mae West' life jackets, flying helmets and headphones. Their names appear on the helmets and are repeated on the wreath-like ribbon that scrolls across the canvas, complete with their RAAF wings floating like cherubs.

Flak Busters (1945) by Dennis Adams

Australian Beaufighters of No. 455 Squadron, based in Norfolk, England, attack a German minesweeper off the coast of Norway. They co-operated on many shipping strikes with a New Zealand Beaufighter Torpeo Squadron (489 Squadron RNZAF). In those attacks the Australian aircraft came in and fired both rocket projectiles and 20mm cannons. The ship 'saturated' by this fire would then be attacked by the torpedo Beaufighters.

During the Second World War, Australian artists frequently drew on various modern art movements to form chaotic and jarring compositions that interpreted weapons and machines, military life, and the visual experience of battle. One such influence was the literary and artistic movement known as futurism. It developed in Italy, where it was active in various incarnations from 1909 to the 1930s.

At its core futurism celebrated the machine age. Its adherents wanted to renew cultural and artistic ideas to reflect the strengths and dynamic nature of machines and life in modern cities. In general, futurist works of art emphasised movement and dynamic tension between typically geometric pictorial elements. In this image the artist paints the ship overwhelmed by a barrage of repeated explosions and jutting shafts of water and light.

Australian Portraits 1880 -1960 (Part Two)

Moving on to The Modernists 1920 - 1940.

The artists in this period experimented with a degree of abstraction, a concern with composition, form and colour, and with a shallow picture plane and cool, crisp precision.

Stella Bowen's portrait of Mary Widney (1927) is rendered in bold lines and depicted from viewer sees the subject in a 3/4 profile and also her image from behind as she is reflected in the mirror.

Meanwhile, Grace Cossington-Smith's Study of Head, Self-Portrait (1916) reveals the influence of Post-Impressionism in its high-key palette of pinks, blues, greens, and animated brush strokes.

My new favourite artist is Nora Heysen - ok, she's been around for a while, but she's new to me. I love her London Breakfast (1935) as she sits in her dressing gown, hunched forward over the paper with a tea-cup in hand and the breakfast things still on the table. It's gentle and soft but somehow still honest as I imagine her taking a moment to herself before hurrying on with the day.

The boy in the bathing trunks in Elise Blumann's Charles, Morning on the Swan (1935) seems to be almost stepping out of the frame. He has no face but lots of form against the rippling sea. The canvas has a flat, patterned surface, and the broad rhythmic brushstrokes and network of hatch marks are clearly visible.

Margaret Preston's Flapper (1925) is another favourite. The artist has emphasised the flat patterned surfaces of the clothing set against a shallow picture plane. The subject's rosy cheeks and bright expression suggest she is painted as a progressive young society woman, but her homely woollen dress and knitted tights are at odds with the model of the flash bohemian flapper of the 1920s.

Eric Wilson did not clutter his portraits with background detail. All attention is focused on the subject and the meticulous realism of The atist's mother (1937) is almost photographic in its detail. With her hat and coat on, and her gloves and umbrella in hand, she looks as though she is just about to go out and is only delayed by her son's request to pose.

In Christian Waller with Baldur, Undin and Siren at Fairy Hills (1932), Napier Waller has painted his wife sitting on the grass with three airedale terriers, beneath the willow trees with books and cushions. She sits fully dressed in stockings and shoes, playing with her necklace. The wide canvas is full of details to the edges - if this were a photograph we would say it was beautifully cropped.

Christian became a book illustrator and printmaker while her husband became a printmaker and worked with murals and mosaics. In the 1930s he began to work almost exclusively in stained glass and mosaics, using a classical and formal style. This was painted at a time when he was becoming a man of the world while she was retreating into an esoteric religion. Knowing that, there seems to be some distance implied in the portrait.

Roy de Maistre was a pioneer of Australian Post-Impressionism and Abstraction. In his Self Portrait (1945) the central focus is the well-stoked fire, symbolising the belly of the artist, and suggesting a passionate and creative spirit. The bold, flattened forms and intersecting planes show the influence of cubism upon the work.

Albert Tucker, on the other hand, was influenced by the Expressionists, whose strong images responded to the social realities of the Depression - he became one of a group of Melbourne artists known as the Angry Penguins. His Self Portrait (1937) reveals a deeply penetrating gaze, foreshadowing the emotionally charged images he produced in the 1940s. The high forehead, swept back hair, mean scarf over jacket and tie, big eyes, sharp nose, full lips, one raised eyebrow, head tilted forward with chin down but eyes up, all combine to produce the effect of a knowing but quizzical look.