MASTERPIECES FROM THE BEN URI COLLECTION
ENID ABRAHAMS (1906-1972)
TWO SLEEPING SOLDIERS (VERSO)
c. 1941
Pastel, pen and ink and brown wash
Signed (upper left) 'E. Abrahams'
ENID ABRAHAMS
Enid Abrahams’ Two Sleeping Soldiers (verso) captures an intimate moment of wartime respite, rendered with tenderness and restraint. Executed in pastel, pen and ink and brown washl, the drawing presents two uniformed men in deep sleep, collapsed on a plush, overstuffed sofa. Their intertwined postures and relaxed
expressions speak to the profound physical and emotional exhaustion of active service, offering a rare and humane glimpse into the quieter realities of wartime experience. The domestic interior indicated by curtained windows, patterned cushions, and wood floorboards contrasts strikingly with the regimental precision of their military attire, suggesting a moment of reprieve amid the chaos of war The work demonstrates Abrahams' strong observational skills and sensitivity to mood and gesture Her fine handling of wash and line conveys the soft textures of fabric and the languid weight of slumbering bodies During the Second World War, Abrahams was deeply involved in civil defense work and, like fellow women war artists Rachel Reckitt and Olga Lehmann, focused on depicting the lived experiences of those serving on the home front While less publicly known than her male contemporaries, Abrahams’ contribution to British war art is significant, her drawings preserving overlooked moments of vulnerability, camaraderie, and endurance. Two Sleeping Soldiers is both quietly political and profoundly empathetic.
Enid Abrahams was born into a Jewish family in Hendon, north London, England in 1906 She studied at St John's Wood School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools, where she also later exhibited regularly between 1930 and 1944, as well as with the Leicester Galleries in London, the New English Art Club (in 1934 the Jew-
ish Chronicle' praised her Still Life as an 'exceptionally attractive arrangement of colour and tone beautifully painted'), the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, and the Royal Society of British Artists During the Second World, Abrahams joined the Fire Service in Hampstead and Bethnal Green, organised clubs and drove a mobile canteen in Stepney She was part of an unofficial group of women artists, including Olga Lehmann, Rachel Reckitt, and Elsie Gledstanes, who, like their better-known male counterparts (Eric Kennington, Henry Moore, Paul Nash and William Rothenstein), made work on subjects such as Air Raid precautions and the work of the fire, ambulance and rescue services
The Imperial War Museum contains correspondence regarding the acquisition of a work on this subject, ‘Bells! A Unit of the National Fire Service Answering a Call' (IWM: ART LD 1360), purchased from the exhibition of firemen's pictures at the Royal Academy in August 1941, for six guineas Abrahams's work was also included in the Second Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture by Civil Defense artists, at the Cooling Galleries, Bond Street in the same year; and her study of 'Sub Officer Mills' was shown at the Royal Academy in 1943. After the war her work was included in the exhibition 'Some Women Artists' (Imperial War Museum, 1958) Following her marriage, she appears to have exhibited less frequently Her later work is signed from c 1956 with her married name Dreyfus Unusually, the work in the Ben Uri Collection is signed Abrahams on one side and Dreyfus on the other Enid Dreyfus died in London, England in 1972 Her work is held in UK public collections (as Enid Abrahams) including the Ben Uri Collection and the Guildhall Art Gallery In 2020 her work was included in the exhibition 'Air and Fire: War Artists, the Battle of Britain and the Blitz' at the Royal Air Force Museum, London
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
COLLECTION: https://benuri.org/collections/
BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/
