The Cenotaph By Maude Parker
DOUGLAS PAGE
This recent personal acquisition, left, is a watercolour by Maude Parker, signed bottom right. It depicts the Cenotaph, below left, from the South. Our eyes are instantly drawn to the red of Union Flag, by far the warmest and brightest colour on the page. The Cenotaph, the U.K.’s official war memorial, designed by Edwin Lutyens, and built between 1919 and 1920 from Portland stone, is representative of every local village war memorial. A sculpted empty tomb is placed onto the monument’s gradually diminishing tiers. Standing to the right of the Cenotaph in Parker’s painting is a small blue figure, enlarged below right. Standing with his head bowed, he is mourning. On the far left is the Treasury building and the then Foreign Office building. Fading into the background, we can see, with two visible domes, used to disguise the building’s peculiar shape, the Old War Office building.
About Maude Parker Born in Birmingham in 1888, Maude Parker lived in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Cornwall during her life, Notable for her watercolours, she exhibited at many galleries, including the Royal Academy.
Produced by Douglas Page in 2021 godtres.wixsite.com/cornucopia