A signed Gouache on Ivory by Norman May – Miniature portrait of Captain Reginald Tavenor Johnson, 5th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment, killed in action October 13th 1915, aged 36 (Image courtesy of David Cohen Fine Art)

The Great War as recorded in the arts: an exhibition at London’s Morley Gallery

The Great War, as seen through both the fine and popular arts, is the theme of a Centenary exhibition which runs at the Morley Gallery in London until October 2nd 2014.

Based on a collection of paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, posters, photographs and ephemera, the exhibition seeks to examine the various responses to war – and how groups such as women, soldiers and pacifists were presented in official and unofficial art.

It includes previously unseen paintings by Eric Kennington, Spencer Pryse, Colin Gill, Percy Jowett, William Strang and Stanhope Forbes, with works on paper by Henry Tonks, Christopher Nevinson, James McBey, Ellis Martin and Muirhead Bone.

The exhibition is being staged by Liss Fine Art, which specialises in unsung heroes and heroines of British Art from 1880-1980, in conjunction with Morley College.

Items have been loaned by First World War art specialists David and Judith Cohen. Among them is a collection of miniature portraits. Some have been identified. Most remain unknown.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated 260-page catalogue, divided into three sections:

Combat:
The War in the Air, at Sea and on Land; Soldiers; Weapons of War, Desolation

The Home Front:
Convalesence, Business As Usual, Women, Propoganda, Pacafists

The Aftermath:
The End of War, Remembering The War. Epilogue.

Proceeds from the catalogue sales will be donated to The Red Cross and Morley College.

‘The Great War; as recorded through the fine and popular arts’ is on at the Morley Gallery, 61 Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7HT (near the Imperial War Museum) until October 2nd 2014. Admission is free. More details can be found here.

Sources: Liss Fine Art; David and Judith Cohen

Images courtesy of David Cohen Fine Art

Posted by: Peter Alhadeff, Centenary News