alex falbo Posted 23 August , 2009 Share Posted 23 August , 2009 Harvest of Battle C.R.W. Nevinson. It really summarizes the cost of WWI and human conflict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWills Posted 23 August , 2009 Share Posted 23 August , 2009 Another favourite - who could leave out the classic Alfred Leete poster artwork. I will stick my neck out and say that is one of the most imitated icons of the 20th century. Regards, EoB. Leete was a Northamptonshire artist and you may be interested to know that the Gallery at Weston super Mare holds quite a collection of his work. You are right to underline it as one of the most imitated icons of the 20th Century, indeed Leete effectively plagiarised a pre-war theatre poster to create this poster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl of Berkhamsted Posted 23 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 23 August , 2009 You are right to underline it as one of the most imitated icons of the 20th Century, indeed Leete effectively plagiarised a pre-war theatre poster to create this poster. Interesting - do you know which theatre poster was used as the foundation for his classic rendition? Regards, EoB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 23 August , 2009 Share Posted 23 August , 2009 For me Most definitely Goodbye Old Man, But also the other artists who captured those who did not know why fore did they be subject to terror, whilst doing their best. http://i720.photobucket.com/albums/ww205/M...erHigh/Guns.jpg by HS Power Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMannus Posted 23 August , 2009 Share Posted 23 August , 2009 Another favourite. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingo794 Posted 23 August , 2009 Share Posted 23 August , 2009 ‘Gassed’ by John Singer Sargent There’s something amazing about the light in this painting. And the detail…the way the third man in line is overestimating the height of the step he has obviously been warned about, and the football match that is being played in the background. There are some cracking pictures among these. I've always liked war art, but I have not seen alot of these. 'Gassed' by J S Sargent is the one for me. I think the sunlight and the movement of the men towards the rear, away from the action for a time, hopefully out of the fight for the duration, hopefully not too badly affected by the gas, hopefully on a trip to Blighty. The men laid down in the mud obviously represent for me, the men who did not survive. The football game being played out, is the war which carries on regardless of who is there. Despite its rather dour and sad composition, I think the colourfulness of the picture exudes hope, after all the dark dreadfullness of war. That is how I see it. I suppose art is open to all types of interpretation. Fascinating stuff, though. DW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoMH Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 David, I am interested in knowing the title and artist (and any other details) for your painting a couple of posts ago. Joanna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bantamforgot Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 Joanna , If you mean post 30 this is "The absolution of the Munsters" by Matania, a great artist , also responsible many other great ww1 paintings. Cheers. Colin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGM Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 Absolution of the Munsters Classic Thread An excellent thread! Regards CGM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwp2007 Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 I like the painting by Matania in post 11, is the memorial to the 58th div. at Chipilly based on this painting ?, cheers, John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl of Berkhamsted Posted 24 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 24 August , 2009 More horses for Ozzie: Don't know the artist I'm afraid, however the sketch really captures the battle against the mud. Regards, EoB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunboat Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 I think one of the surprising features of many of the paintings shown on this thread is the incredible light effects. One has (quite wrongly I suppose) a fixed idea of the western front being in a perpetual gloom but many of the featured works have strong bright light almost a symbol of hope breaking through the gloom. Yet there is something unnatural about the light almost an exagerated brightness. Is this just representative of an artistic movement of that period or is it perhaps a accurate representation of the atmospheric conditions at the front. I can imaging that millions of tonnes of ordnance throwing all sorts of chemicals into the atmosphere may change the lighting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl of Berkhamsted Posted 24 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 24 August , 2009 I think one of the surprising features of many of the paintings shown on this thread is the incredible light effects. One has (quite wrongly I suppose) a fixed idea of the western front being in a perpetual gloom but many of the featured works have strong bright light almost a symbol of hope breaking through the gloom. Yet there is something unnatural about the light almost an exagerated brightness. Is this just representative of an artistic movement of that period or is it perhaps a accurate representation of the atmospheric conditions at the front. I can imaging that millions of tonnes of ordnance throwing all sorts of chemicals into the atmosphere may change the lighting. Very interesting point Gunboat. You would have to go a long way to beat Paul nash for the intensity of light of a shell burst. Captured so well here in 'The Ypres Salient at Night': As to isolated lighting as a movement of the time, I would argue that the rumblings of cubism and modernism would be further to the top of the magma chamber. However this use of light you mention has been adopted throughout the history of art with intensely powerful results. In my humble opinion, Carravaggio was the first genius of isolated light sources, painting at the end of the 16th Century. Here's three paintings, top is Carravagio's 'The Calling of Saint Matthew', then approx two hundred years later, (middle) we have Joseph Wright's 'The Experiment with an Air Pump'. Again approx. two hundred years later we end with Eric Kennington's 'Gassed and Wounded'. The similarities in lighting are apparent, however each piece evokes quite a different emotive response. Pure genius. I personally admire this use of light as a dramatic stage for the artist to work in. I hope you all disagree, and we get a good topic going! Regards, EoB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingo794 Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 I think one of the surprising features of many of the paintings shown on this thread is the incredible light effects. One has (quite wrongly I suppose) a fixed idea of the western front being in a perpetual gloom but many of the featured works have strong bright light almost a symbol of hope breaking through the gloom. Yet there is something unnatural about the light almost an exagerated brightness. Is this just representative of an artistic movement of that period or is it perhaps a accurate representation of the atmospheric conditions at the front. I can imaging that millions of tonnes of ordnance throwing all sorts of chemicals into the atmosphere may change the lighting. The colour hit me with most of the paintings, I suppose it is because we are used to seeing the rather grainy black and white images that were produced at the time and the stills we come accross in our research. Colour adds a vibrance which we don't always associate with WW1 imagery, though it is a welcome change from the drabness that we have become accustomed to. We have all seen the retouched photographs, though they are not a patch on the artistry of a real painting/sketch. Lovely stuff. DW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Murphy Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 Absolution of the Munsters Classic Thread An excellent thread! Regards CGM CGM, Many thanks for posting the link, I have just spent my lunch time skimming through the thread. It is fascinating and very deserving of its place as a "Classic Thread". I'll now have to plan an evening or two to go through the entire thread. Regards, Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoMH Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 Thanks Colin and CGM for the information and link on ''The Absolution of the Munsters'. There are never enough hours in the day to do all the reading I would like to do! Joanna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 EOB, The pain and the desperation!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The men and the horses sunk in the mire. Thank you for this one. As for your later post, I may not understand the words but it is all explained in the works. And is that not what art is all about? Kim PS. Speaking of art and horses??? If and when shall we see EOB horses?? That noble beast enslaved by the war machine. Or that wild desert spirit held by the Light Horseman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 I like the painting by Matania in post 11, is the memorial to the 58th div. at Chipilly based on this painting ?, cheers, John. I can't seem to find who did what first but the sculptor of Chipilly died in 1927. His work is, when you absorb it first hand, brilliant, and the WW2 damage adds pathos. I walked about it, but could not touch it, in case I felt warmth and a pulse, such was the sculptor's skill in defintion. Needless to say, after some time observing the sculpture, I was a blubbering mess, which was not lightened by the brevity of non horse lovers on reentering the modern mode of transport. Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunboat Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 I have to agree with both by Charles and DW. Who can argue with the point that Carravagio was a genuis of isoloated light sources and there is evidence in some of the work of a transition from post impressionism to the modernism and cubism that followed. But I was struck like DW by the atmospheric light, I thought at first that it may simply be that are eyes and minds are accustomed to black and white imagery (the horses stuck in mud despite it being an incredible study is less striking for the very reason that the tonal value is familar to minds accustomed to black and white photographs. Yet there is something about the density of the light that is so striking. The only way I can explain it is when you see a true photographic image of Mars ...there is something familar and yet alien about the image. It looks like any desolate place on earth and yet there is a density in the atmosphere that makes it look both familar and different. This is what I see in some of the images here. I probably havent explained it particularly well but it is just how I interpret the use of light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Foster Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 Contrasting light the Artists and Photograher's big gun . Used to highlight a certain part of the painting that the artist wants to lead your eye to or used more broadly to highten the drama of a painting . I'm thinking of Rembrandt's use of light in most of his self portraits and Turner in his use of light in his landscapes. Turner in my view managed to capture what Gunboat s describing, that sense of the familier with the alien, almost ethereal light Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bantamforgot Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 Has any member a better photo of my post 11 "Goodbye old friend" , would really be apreciated. Colin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Foster Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 Another favourite,William Orpen. Really captures the harsh glare of the Chalk in these paintings IWM collection Dead Germans in a trench Thiepval Small mine crater La Boiselle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Foster Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 and some more Description reads The Manchesters, Arras. ´Just out of the trenches near Arras. Been through the battles of Ypres and Somme untouched. Going home to Sheffield to be married.´ I wonder if he survived the war A change of mood and emphasized light on the dead soldier Zonnebeke The man himself.William Orpen self portriat, very Rembrandt in style Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunboat Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 ... Turner in my view managed to capture what Gunboat s describing, that sense of the familier with the alien, almost ethereal light Chris thank you Turner is a great example! Where we have in these paintings that sense of ethereal light is it artistic intereptation such as Turners representation of light (or the impressionists) or could there have been an element of capturing what was in reality a corruption of normal light due to the all the stuff being sent into the atmospehere. Those of us who live in the UK may have observed that in and around the 5th November the atmosphere sometimes takes on a strange quality which I have always put down to the numerous firework and bonfires....hmmm who are these strange men approaching in white coats...what is that sacklike think they are holding This is a great thread...I may even make Brigadier General Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunboat Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 Thanks Chris for those postings what equisite work. Agian I cant rule out the wanderings of a fractured mind but with "Zonnebeke" there is to me a quasi religious feel to it...the positioning of the body is somewhat reminiscent of representations of Christ being taken down from the cross and the dug out taking a central, and raised position (surely not a good idea for a dug out in reality) gives in my mind the sense of the empty tomb following the resurrection.... does this speak of a "greater love".... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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