First and Second World War Art at the Royal Museums Greenwich by Dr. Melanie Vandenbrouck ith the outbreak of the Second World War, Great Britain was having a PR problem. Fearing they' d have to fight a foreign enemy while simultaneously confronting a "war of nerves" at home, the British government reestablished the Ministry of Information, which in turn created the War Artists' Advisory Committee (WAAC) in 1939. Led by Sir Kenneth Clark, then director of the National Gallery, the WAAC employed a nd purchased works by hundreds of ar tists over the course of the war. It aim ed to both document and promote the wa r to the public, in a way that only an artist ca n convey. Some of the artists had served in chis capacity in World War I, but not on the sca le of what the WAAC collected in World War II. By the time the "Great War" was over, more than 400 artists had contributed nearly 6,000 works of art. These works were later distributed to museums across the country. Charged with the cask of revealing a "truth " th at went beyond the simple recording of events, official wa r art served the purposes of commemoration, instruction, documentation, and propaganda. These artis ts caprured intimate scenes aboard wa rships and submarines, from the excitement at the height of battle to the boredom of off-watch sailors or the stokers, deep in the ship feeding the boilers. Portraits of those who served , from admirals to boys to WRENs, give faces to the conflict. This year, the Queen's House of the Royal Museums Greenw ich, UK, is exhibiting many of the best works from chis program in a n ex hibition titled War Artists at Sea (now through February 2015). Converting a Cunarder to a Merchant Cruiser, 1918, by john Everett (1876-1949), oil on canvas, 28 1/i x 39 inches.
W
Although the artist gave a specific title to the image, no singlefunnel Cunarder was converted to a merchant cruiser, an armed merchant ship suitable for escort work. Everett served in the army during WWI and worked on paintings connected with seaborne commerce for the Ministry of Information. H e was a practical deep-water sailor and understood his subject well, and his work manifests the knowledge gleaned from living on board. H e saw sails, ropes, and deck fittings in terms of rhythmic patterns, which enabled him to produce powerful and vigorous compositions. John Travers Cornwell, Boy 1st class (1900-16), by Ambrose McEvoy, oil on canvas , 20 x 16 inches.
This painting was part of a series of Victoria Cross holders commissioned from Ambrose McEvoy, a fashionable society portrait painter who was also a war artist. j ohn "jack " Cornwell was a 16-year-old gun sight-setter in HMS C hester. When the ship went into action at the Battle ofJutland, 3 1May1916, all in his gun crew were killed or wounded, but Cornwell remained at his post despite fatal injuries. Young Cornwell became a national icon to British boys on how to serve their country and to others on the meaning ofduty and selfsacrifice. To creazte posthumous portraits, McEvoy workedfrom photographs, but he fo und itt difficult to capture the true spirit ofa subject this way. Perhaps this is why lhe left this portrait unfinished.
30
SEA H:IISTORY 147, SUMMER 2014
1