Art and War - by Christina Grant
Art and War
Since time immemorial art has been interwoven with war, whether depictions battles, armaments or propaganda.
From Ancient Greece ( Chigi Vase or Pitcher,
found in an Etruscan tomb c 640-50 BC); to
the famed Alexander mosaic found in Pompeii c
100 BC( depicting the battle between Alexander the Great and Darius III of
Persia); the Norman Bayeaux Tapestry (
which is actually embroidery) 1070; through to the Italian Renaissance and,
Ucellos - Battle of San Romano (1435 -50), Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings of
weaponry ( multi barrelled cannon of 1481 or the Tank of 1487), or to Spains
Valazquez Surrender of Breda (1634-35).
Then their are the famous paintings of ships in the 19th century
by JMW Turner- the Battle of Trafalgar
1823/4 and his evocative Fighting Temeraire.
All these artworks had a common theme of
celebrating great victories and the armaments of war.
It wasn’t until the 20th century that art turned away from the celebration of war and began to turn to the loss and devastation on the ordinary people caught up in these wars. Not just the soldiers sent to certain death but also, the innocent children and women left in perceived safety.
We suddenly saw the end of glorification and
looked instead at the horror.
At the outset of WW1, the British Government did not support the idea of war artists, but just commissioned posters to recruit men to fight. However, when soldiers, who were also artists, returned from the trenches they exhibited paintings based on their own personal war experiences.
A Hall of remembrance was set up, which
subsequently became part of the Imperial War Museum.
‘Gassed ‘
by Sargent and ‘Menin Road’ by Nash became part of this collection.
Nash had been asked to paint a battlefield
scene. What he painted was a deserted, desolate, muddy landscape of tree stumps
and bomb craters.
Similarly, Sargent had painted a line of soldiers, blinded and injured being led to a field hospital.
Both these artists (and there were others too)
were still concentrating on depicting the war in a battlefield scenario.
But, within the next couple of decades, the
other side of the consequences of war, on the innocent and defenceless, were
depicted.
Today we will look at two of these artists, Picasso and Will Evans - one home grown and the other, internationally acclaimed.
Picasso painted his masterpiece Guernica in 1937, as an emotional response to the bombing of the Basque village. The German Luftwaffe were invited by Franco and his Nationalist Party to bomb Guernica in the Northern area of Spain. The village had no military significance.
The village was full of women and children as well as the elderly, as all the men who were able were absent fighting in the Spanish Civil War.
It is considered the most moving and powerful anti war painting in history, and is now housed in the Reina Sofia in Madrid, having been moved there in 1992.
Initially painted for the Paris exhibition in
1937, it travelled extensively throughout the world to raise money for the
Spanish Civil War relief. It was housed in the MOMA in New York for the
duration of the Second World War at the request of Picasso. He stated that he
would only allow it to be taken to Spain when the Spanish people had a free
democracy again.
Following the death of Franco and the
re-instatement of the monarchy and a democracy, the MOMA reluctantly
relinquished the painting.
Picasso himself stayed in Paris during WW2 and allegedly, when asked by a German ( referring to the Guernica painting) ‘ did you do it’ responded ’ No, you did ’!
This painting is oil on canvas and measures 25ft
6ins wide ( 776.6 cms) by 11ft 5 ins ( 349.3 cms) tall. It is painted in Black/
white and grey to mimic a photograph taken at the scene ( possibly influenced
by his photographer girlfriend Dora Maar).
It has a chaotic and distressing feel to the
tortured images of the people and animals depicted therein. Many theories
abound as to the symbolism used by Picasso in Guernica. The one I favour is
that the Bull is symbolic of the Spanish people, personified by Franco, and his
fascist aggression. Whilst the horse represents the female and the innocent,
faithful friend of man caught up in the horrific brutality of war.
The woman holding the dead child is
representative of Madrid mourning her quiet and innocent Spanish village in the
mountains.
On the day of the attack, most people were in
the marketplace set in the centre of the village. As the bombs dropped they
were trapped …unable to escape as the exit roads and bridges had been
destroyed. Hence, Picasso shows the scene in a closed room, with no escape,
implying oppression of innocent people and beasts.
Picasso drew on his Cubist and Surrealist
distortion of shapes and forms whilst painting this depiction of the horror and
devastation that war brings. His childlike drawings show the simplicity of form
and signs, evoking an emotional response to the victims pain and suffering. He
created a timeless image of terror and violence against man and beast
Will Evans ( 1888- 1957) was born in Waun Wen Swansea and was a noted artist who was also a respected art teacher and skilled lithographer. He later moved to Stanley Terrace in the Mount Pleasant area of Swansea.
Leaving school at 14, he became an apprentice
tin plate printer at South Wales Canister works, eventually becoming their
chief designer after attending lessons, part time from 1910 at Swansea School
of Art.
In 1937 he established the lithography
department at Swansea School of Art, at the request of the then principal,
William Grant Murray.(1877-1950) also, establishing the school of printing in
Rutland Street in February 1940, which had been planned for a decade.
Within a year it was destroyed by the German
Luftwaffe in the 3 nights blitz of Swansea in February 1941. (19th, 20th and
21st).
The attacks made a deep impression on the artist
- who had a birds eye view from his home in
Stanley Terrace (being one of the hills overlooking the town itself).
He documented the devastation in a series of
paintings which are of great historical importance and significance to the
people of Swansea, and 15 of these have been added to the permanent collection
of the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery. It is a precious record, captured in paint, of
the aftermath and devastation caused by war.
His work is classical in style ( in complete
contrast to Guernica), and painted in colour. It shows the completely destroyed
Swansea Town centre, which was beyond repairing.( Indeed, on being rebuilt many
historical landmarks and streets totally disappeared, which is even felt to
this day).
St Mary’s Church ( the Civic Church of Swansea)
was so badly damaged that consideration was given to pulling it down but,
luckily, it wasn’t and was rebuilt in the 1950s. It is one of the few remaining
older building in the whole of the town centre and which stands on the site of
the original church built in 1328 by the Bishop of Brecon.
Following his death, Evans was given a memorial
show at the Glynn Vivian in Swansea in 1958, (just a dozen years after his one
man exhibition there).
As well as the artworks held at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, his works are also held at the National Museum of Wales and Swansea Museum (which is largely of landscapes of the Swansea area).
St Mary’s Square after the Blitz Glynn Vivian Art Gallery Swansea
Guernica : Gurnica translated by j. Dodman
Aldeasa 2001 isbn 84-8003-291-X
Museo National Centre de Arte Reina Sofia
Glynn Vivian Art Gallery:
Wesley Chapel 1941.
Entrance to Swansea Market 1941.
Castle Bailey Street Swansea
Castle Street from High Street
Ben Evans Drapery Store, view of the Castle
Street frontage
The Bank, Temple Street
Snow in Swansea
Castle Street Swansea
Castle Buildings 1941
Wrecked fish Shop
Bombed House and Shop
Mount Pleasant Church
The devastated Area, Swansea in 1942 (
watercolour on paper)
The Ruins of Ben Evans Store (watercolour on
paper)
Corporation Electricity and Post Buildings 1941
Imperial War Museum, London
Art UK
Presented as a talk
by Christina Grant to the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery group : Contemporary
Conversations in 2022.
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