War art
For information about artists in this genre, see
War artists.
War art is considered a genre of art.[1] It is characterized by war, military subjects and war activities, as part of the wider field of military art. The distinction between war and military art is not clear-cut.[2] The works described as war art represent a broad range of subject matter and styles.[3] It includes sculpture, and other artistic media. War art includes painting, as a sub-type of history painting.
Although war art is an account of one aspect of art history, it is also an expression of culture.[4] War art combines artistic and documentary functions,[5] and it becomes one of the significant legacies of any culture.[6]
Definition
War art by definition becomes an attempt to come to terms with the nature and reality of violence.[7] For example, in Australia, C.E.W. Bean's Anzac Book influenced the artists who grew up between the two world wars. When these Australians were asked to depict a second multi-nation war after 1939, there was a precedent and format for them to follow.[1]
War art is typically realistic; but its definition of accuracy emphasizes not only factual, eyewitness detail but also the emotional impression and impact of events.[8] Art and war becomes "a tussle between the world of the imagination and the world of action" — a constant tension between the factual representation of events and an artist's interpretation.[9]
War art is artwork conceived and executed by people involved in war in some manner. In other words, the subject can be parsed according to who creates it,[10] as for example,
- artists officially commissioned either to spend varying periods of wartime under fire or to be present at nearly every kind of military activity, in order to record them[10]
- servicemen-artists responding to powerful inner urges to depict direct war experience[10]
- sensitive onlookers [10]
War art may been created by a combination of the above[10] — or not created. For example, during the course of World War II, the Italians created virtually no art which documented the conflict. The French began to paint the war only after the war was ended in 1945.[11]
Genre
War art as a genre of art history simply to indicates a class or kind of painting which is grouped according to common feature. The grouping is marked by a distinctive adjective or epithet.[12] War art is characterized by the subject matter it depicts rather any specific style or material used.
War art appeared in various forms in classical western art history. Examples of this genre include the friezes of warriors at the Temple of Aphaia in Greece or the Bayeux Tapestry,[13] is a linear panoramic narrative of the events surrounding the Norman Conquest and the Battle of Hastings in 1066.[14]
Narrative themes gallery
Narrative art captures specific military maneuvers
- River crossings
- Cavalry engagements
- Sanctuary
Propaganda
War art has been used as an instrument of propaganda.[15] War art has served nation-building functions [16] or other persuasive ends.[5]
Propaganda gallery
- Enlistment
- Civilian support for the war effort
See also
-
Notes
- ^ a b Reid, John B. (1977). Australian Artists at War, Vol. 2, p. 5; excerpt, "The Australian people first became familiar with Australasian war art as a genre with the publication of the so-called 'Christmas books' ... which contained the writings of servicemen and were illustrated by the current war artists."
- ^ Freeman, Julian, "War art," and Richard Woodward, "Military artists," Oxford Companion to Military History; retrieved 22 Mar 2011. Note that the term "war art" does not appear in Grove Art Online.
- ^ National Gallery of Australia (NGA), "War Artists"; excerpt, "During the Second World War several war art schemes operated: the official war artists, appointed by the Australian War Memorial (q.v.); the army artists, servicemen seconded to portray the war; and the Military History Section artists, servicemen appointed to work on the Christmas annuals."
- ^ Brandon, Laura. (2008). Art and War, p. 4. at Google Books
- ^ a b Foss, Brian. (2006). War Paint: Art, War, State, and Identity in Britain, 1939-45, p. 157. at Google Books; excerpt, "records that were as much artistic as documentary."
- ^ Foss, p. 131. at Google Books
- ^ Foss, p. 124. at Google Books
- ^ Foss, p. 134. at Google Books
- ^ Gough, Paul. (2010) A Terrible Beauty: British Artists in the First World War, p. 3.
- ^ a b c d e Answers.com quoting Oxford Companion to Military History
- ^ Ross, Alan. (1983). Colours of War, p. 118.
- ^ "Genre" in Chambers's Encyclopaedia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge (1892), Vol. 5, pp. 135-136. at Google Books
- ^ Stover, Eric et al. (2004). My Neighbor, my Enemy, p. 271. at Google Books
- ^ UNESCO, Bayeaux tapestry, Nomination Form, p. 4; excerpt,"... it is an established fact that it recounts a military triumph: the conquest of England by William the Conqueror"; Nomination Form, pp. 5-6; excerpt, "This large-scale textile work of the 11th century is, to our knowledge, the only one of its kind to have survived to the present day. The Tapestry is an almost contemporary visual record of the event it depicts, one of the most significant events of Medieval times. It tells of the beginnings of the Norman Conquest; the landing of Norman and French troops in England and the Battle of Hastings"
- ^ Brandon, p. 58. at Google Books
- ^ Brandon, p. 6. at Google Books
References
- Brandon, Laura. (2008). Art and War. New York: I.B. Tauris. 10-ISBN 1-84511-237-7/13-ISBN 978-1-84511-237-0; OCLC 225345535
- Foss, Brian. (2006). War Paint: Art, War, State, and Identity in Britain, 1939-45. New Haven: Yale University Press. 10-ISBN 0-300-10890-7/13-ISBN 978-0-300-10890-3; OCLC 166478725
- Gough, Paul. (2010). A Terrible Beauty: British Artists in the First World War. Bristol: Sansom & Co. 13-ISBN 9781906593001/10-ISBN 1906593000; OCLC 559763485
- Holmes, Richard. (2003). The Oxford Companion to Military History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10-ISBN 0-19-860696-6/13-ISBN 978-0-19-860696-3; OCLC 231975512
- Reid, John B. (1977). Australian Artists at War: Compiled from the Australian War Memorial Collection. Volume 1. 1885-1925; Vol. 2 1940-1970. South Melbourne, Victoria: Sun Books. 10-ISBN 0-7251-0254-3/13-ISBN 978-0-7251-0254-8; OCLC 4035199
- Ross, Alan. (1983). Colours of War: War Art, 1939-45. London: J. Cape. OCLC 122459647
- Stover, Eric and Harvey M. Weinstein. (2004). My Neighbor, my Enemy: Justice and Community in the Aftermath of Mass Atrocity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10-ISBN 0-521-83495-3/13-ISBN 978-0-521-83495-7; 10-ISBN 0-521-54264-2/13-ISBN 978-0-521-54264-7; OCLC 183926798
Further reading
- Dempsey, L James. (2007). Blackfoot War Art: Pictographs of the Reservation Period, 1880-2000. Normanm Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. 13-ISBN 978-0-8061-3804-6/10-ISBN 0-8061-3804-1; OCLC 70839712
- Gilkey, Gordon. War Art of the Third Reich. Bennington, Vermont: International Graphics Corporation, 1982). 10-ISBN 0-86556-018-8/13-ISBN 978-0-86556-018-5; OCLC 223704492
- Harries, Meirion and Suzie Harries. (1983). The War Artists: British Official War Art of the Twentieth Century. London: Michael Joseph. 10-ISBN 0-7181-2314-X/13-ISBN 978-0-7181-2314-7; OCLC 9888782
- Thorniley-Walker, Jane. (2006). War Art: Murals and Graffiti - Military Life, Power and Subversion. Bootham: Council for British archaeology. 10-ISBN 1902771567/13-ISBN 978-1-902771-56-4; OCLC 238785409
- Yenne, William P. (1983). German War Art, 1939-1945. New York: Crescent Books. 10-ISBN 0-517-34846-2/13-ISBN 978-0-517-34846-8; OCLC 611620194
External links