Jonathan Grant Galleries

Art of War: From Crimea to Afghanistan

Illustrated cover:Nugent Welch (New Zealand 1881 - 1970)Ruins of Cloth Hall & Cathedral, Ypres 1918Watercolour & pencil, 29 x 43 cm, signed

James McMaster (British 1862 - 1904)SharpshooterOil on canvas, 74.5 x 141 cm, signed

Art of WarFrom Crimea to Afghanistan

Curated by Jonathan Gooderham & Grace Alty

Jonathan Grant Galleries 280 Parnell Road Auckland New Zealand Telephone +64 9 308 9125

www.jonathangrantgalleries.com

ISBN 978-0-473-29439-7

Art of War: From Crimea to AfghanistanArt of War: From Crimea to Afghanistan explores the complex genre of war art. The exhibition brings together a selection of works depicting scenes of conflict from as early as the Crimean War (October 1853 – February 1856) through to later works, produced during the war in Afghanistan (2001 – present). Art was, and still is today, used as a record keeper, a propaganda tool, a therapeutic tool, a tool for remembrance and as a means to glorify warfare. This expansive genre not only sheds light on the tremendous courage and ingenuity of soldiers and civilians at the front, but it also highlights the importance of art in a world besieged by war.

This unique exhibition includes artworks created by official New Zealand war artists, civilians, service personnel, artists and government authorities of the day. The artworks that were created during the past one hundred and sixty years of warfare varied greatly in form, subject matter and medium. The artworks in this exhibition range from war posters, postcards, pencil sketches, large oils on canvas, works created in the Eastern front trenches, Gallipoli paintings, bronze sculptures and pen and ink drawings depicting New Zealand’s involvement in Afghanistan.

The Art of War explores two distinct genres of war art, officially commissioned works and unauthorized works. The very purpose of war art was, and still is today, the remembrance of an event and, to that end, the memorialization of a specific time within New Zealand and International cultural history. According to the former Chief of Army, Major-General Lou Gardiner, ‘the role of the Army artist is to capture the operations, people, culture and significant events of the New Zealand Army - to record them as a “footprint in time”, a memorial in our nation’s cultural heritage’.

Official New Zealand war artists were first commissioned in the final months of the First World War. In February 1918, Order Number 529 was sent to all NZEF Divisions asking Officers to ‘return details about any artists under their command’. By the end of March, lists containing the names of twenty-three men had been compiled. An official war artist chosen from the list provided, Lance-Corporal Nugent Herrmann Welch, was subsequently appointed to the War Records Office of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF). The appointment of Welch marked the starting point of the official New Zealand war art collection. This collection was added to after the First World War, when the position was reinstated during the Second World War with the appointment of Peter McIntyre, Russell Clark and Allan Barns-Graham.

McIntyre, the first to be selected, obtained the position when Lieutenant General Bernard Freyberg appointed him to the rank of Official War Artist with the Second NZEF on the 23rd of April 1941. In his letter to the Army Headquarters, notifying them of McIntyre’s appointment, Freyberg outlined the work he hoped McIntyre would accomplish. He stated that McIntyre would complete; ‘A series of portraits of men who win decoration or achieve special honours, battle scenes - series of large paintings of the more important phases of the fighting, the NZ Soldier - a series covering the many sides of a soldiers live (sic) both behind the line[s] and in the firing line’.

The policy of employing official war artists to create a specific work or series of works to commemorate a particular event within New Zealand military history continued with the appointment of Ion Brown in 1987. On the 11th of April 2005 the

Rt. Hon. Helen Clark appointed Wellington artist, Matt Gauldie to the position. Captain Matt Gauldie is still serving as New Zealand’s official war artist, completing a number of commissions each year.

Unofficial artworks were created by serving military personal and civilians who saw art as a way to come to terms with what was unfolding around them during a military campaign. The broken landscapes of bombed cities, the empty fields littered with the remnants of war and the fast-moving action of modern military campaigns proved stirring scenes for many individuals. Artists and civilians used their surroundings during both world wars and modern day conflicts as inspiration for their artworks. There were no official war artists for the New Zealand Wars, the Boer Wars, the Korea, Malaya or Vietnam wars. The artistic records created by civilians and serving soldiers during these conflicts are lasting reminders of New Zealand’s involvement in these major historical events. To depict in paint or pencil what they experienced enabled individuals to come to terms with their surroundings. Art became ingrained into the Nation’s consciousness, a pictorial record of warfare in the 20th and 21st centuries.

- Grace Alty

William Simpson RI. (British 1823 - 1899)A Christmas Dinner on the Heights Before SebastopolLithograph, hand coloured, 23 x 35 cm, published Colnaghi, London, May 1855

Gary Schofield (New Zealand 20th Century)The Gallipoli Painting Oil based pastel on board, 40 x 51 cm, signed

Matt Gauldie (New Zealand b.1976)The Line of Fire, Sapper Moore-JonesBronze, wood & brass, 26 x 15.5 x 15.5 cm, signed

Josef Kozeny (Hungarian 1881 - 1957)A Machine Gun Emplacement, Nowosiolka, 1916Oil on canvas, 34 x 47 cm, signed, inscribed & dated 1916

Josef Kozeny (Hungarian 1881 - 1957)Officers Underground Quarters, Nowosiolka, March 1916‘Offizierslokal inderground bei Nowosiolka Marz 1916’Oil on canvas, 34 x 47 cm, signed, inscribed & dated 1916

Josef Kozeny (Hungarian 1881 - 1957)A Destroyed Bridge Near Odaye, February 1916‘ … bei Odaye Feber 1916’Oil on canvas, 34 x 47 cm, signed, inscribed & dated 1916

Matt GauldieChargeBronze, 28 x 12 x 18 cm, signed

Matt GauldieA Break in Battle/Contemplation Bronze, 25 x 16 x 16 cm, signed

Alfred Avery Forrester (New Zealand 1895 – 1981)Anzac Cove, GallipoliOil on canvas, 43 x 80 cm, signed & dated 1918

Nugent Welch (New Zealand 1881 - 1970)Ruins of Cloth Hall & Cathedral, Ypres 1918Watercolour & pencil, 29 x 43 cm, signed

Not all of Nugent Welch’s war paintings became part of the National War Art collection. No reason is given, but one which was exhibited in 1919 at the Academy in Wellington is – Ruins of the Cloth Hall and Cathedral in Ypres. It is an exceptional beautiful study of these two ruined buildings created through a mix of watercolour and pencil. The Cloth Hall, which dates from the 13th century and was partially destroyed by German artillery in World War 1, is an almost ethereal reminder of the building that was once there. In front are the ruins of St Martin’s cathedral, which was reduced to rubble by the German artillery. Welch has put two lone military figures in the front. By the time he painted this picture in 1918, Ypres was a ghost city during the day, but at night it was a bustling place and men, ammunition and supplies were moved through the town to those serving on Ypres Salient. Pictures of Ypres taken in 1919 suggest that there was very little left of the city’s historic buildings, so Welch may well have been drawing on his memory when he drew the Cloth Hall.

Welch’s painting was exhibited alongside other war paintings, most of them owned by the government, in the 1919 NZAFA. An anonymous critic wrote in the New Zealand Times;

One of the best of Mr Nugent Welch’s works is “Ruins of the Cathedral and Cloth Hall. Ypres”. This is a particularly well drawn and dignified composition. It contains a decorative austerity which especially commends it as being essentially a man’s picture and one that would adorn a dignified and well-ordered room. It is by no means lacking in atmosphere and despite its simplicity the aerial perspective is well observed. In this exhibit of war pictures Mr Welch has not been content to merely be a topographical or descriptive artist, but with an artist’s eye has seen beauty even among the ruins.1

- Jenny Haworth

Behind the Twisted Wire: studies of serving New Zealand artists in World War I

1. New Zealand Times, 9 October 1919, p 3

Peter McIntyre OBE (New Zealand 1910 - 1995)Shipping in Tobruk Harbour Graphite on paper, 11 x 21 cm Provenance: Neville Colvin Collection

Peter McIntyre OBE (New Zealand 1910 - 1995)Christmas Greetings 1944 2nd N.Z.E.FLithograph, 9.5 x 19 cmPublished Christmas 1944

Erwin Rommel, popularly known as the Desert Fox, took control of Tobruk on the 21st of June 1941. Tobruk was a crucial point in the Allies’ defense of Egypt and the Suez Canal, as it forced the Axis troops to bring most of their supplies overland from the port of Tripoli, across 1,500 km of desert terrain.

After their defeat at the Battle of Gazala in mid-June 1942, the British 8th Army fell back to Mersa Matruh, Egypt. It was here that the New Zealand 2nd Division was deployed in an attempt to stem the German tide. The New Zealanders formed part of the Allied forces (Britain, British India, Canada, Australia & South Africa) and came under the jurisdiction of the British 8th Army commanded by Commander-in-Chief General Claude Auchinleck. Auchinleck, had to rely on his infantry divisions to halt the Axis progress. He placed the New Zealand 2nd Division at Minqar Qa’im, on the escarpment 48km inland from the Mersa Matruh line.

According to official New Zealand war artist Peter McIntyre, ‘On 26 June a bloody and confused battle was fought above Mersa Matruh. The German tanks were the trouble. As was proved later at El Alamein, the infantry can hold and even gain ground when properly equipped, but it cannot be expected to hold that ground against tanks when equipped only with bayonets. Gradually the New Zealand Division was surrounded’.

In McIntyre’s view, there was no question of surrender, even though their Commander in Chief, Lieutenant General Freyberg was seriously wounded, his 18th war wound.

The New Zealand 2nd Division had delayed the German advance long enough for the 8th Army to reform on the Alamein Line. A plan was formulated for the Division to break through the German lines just after midnight on the 28th of June 1942. The infantrymen of the fourth brigade spearheaded the Division’s attack.

The Division charged through the German defensive line, ‘hell for leather’, with ‘cheers’ and ‘Maori war cries that struck terror into the heart of their opponents’. The attack took the surrounding German forces completely by surprise. The New Zealand Division negotiated a hail of bullets, tracer shells lobbing through the air, burning trucks and flames rising like huge bonfires that illuminated the billows of smoke. ‘Men, silhouetted against the flames, could be seen running from burning trucks to leap on the tailboards of others, but the pell-mell rush went on until the whole cavalcade was through’. One man, using a very New Zealand metaphor, described how ‘we went straight down the field through everything and everybody, like a pack of All Black forwards’. The Division made it through and because they had succeeded in halting the momentum of Rommel’s army, the Alamein Line was saved. By the 1st of July, when the Germans reached the Alamein Line, the British were dug in and Rommel’s men were too exhausted to fight.

Peter McIntyre captured the chaos, excitement and violence of the breakthrough in the illustrated ink on paper sketch, The Breakthrough, Minqar, Qa’im, 27th - 28th June 1942. He would later rework the scene in his studio at New Zealand’s Maadi camp, Egypt, and create an oil painting, which is now housed in the New Zealand Archives War Art collection.

– Grace Alty

Peter McIntyre OBE (New Zealand 1910 - 1995)Christmas Greetings 1944 2nd N.Z.E.FLithograph, 9.5 x 19 cmPublished Christmas 1944

Peter McIntyre OBE (New Zealand 1910 - 1995)The Breakthrough, Minqar, Qa’im, 27th - 28th June 1942Ink on paper, 18.5 x 31 cm, signed

Allan Barns-Graham (New Zealand 1906 - 2006)Portrait of the War Artist Peter McIntyre by his fellow soldier Allan Barns-GrahamGraphite on paper, 33 x 24 cm, signed & inscribed Peter McIntyre

Peter McIntyre OBE (New Zealand 1910 - 1995)Brig. Lindsay Merritt Inglis CB, CBE, DSO and Bar, MCGraphite on paper, 27 x 19 cm

Ron Jobson (British 20th Century)British Hurricanes and Soviet Fighter Planes Successfully Attack a German Stuka Dive-BomberColour poster, offset lithograph, 76 x 51 cm

Terence Cuneo (British 1907 - 1996)British Coastal Artillery Colour poster, offset lithograph, 76 x 51 cm

Jenna Packer (New Zealand 20th Century)Morning Training at Bush CampOil on canvas, 56 x 72 cm, signed

Jenna Packer (New Zealand 20th Century)Musket PaOil on canvas, 56 x 72 cm, signed

Robyn Hughes (New Zealand 20th Century) Commemoration: CassinoMixed media on Hahnemuler paper, 30 x 45 cm, signed & dated 2013/2014

Jordan Barnes (New Zealand b.1986)Camp ColumbiaCharcoal on paper, 104 x 199 cm, signed & dated 2014

Matt Gauldie (New Zealand b.1976)Afghanistan IIMixed media on paper, 42 x 60 cm, signed MG VI

Matt Gauldie (New Zealand b.1976)Opium Dilemma Unresolved, Bamiyan Province July 2006Oil on canvas, 55 x 70 cm, signed

Pippa Blake (New Zealand b.1954)TimorOil on canvas, 133 x 183 cm, signed

Jonathan Grant Galleries280 Parnell Road PO Box 37 673 Parnell Auckland New Zealand Tel: (64-9) 308 9125 Fax: (64-9) 303 1071 E-Mail: jg@jgg.co.nz

www.jonathangrantgalleries.com

Finish

ed A

rt Lt

d 10

.201

0

Peter McIntyre (New Zealand 1910 - 1995)Bombing of Cassino Monastery and Town, May 1944Limited Edition Print, 42 x 57 cm, signed by Peter McIntyre, Jack Hinton VC & Charles Upham VC and Bar