BB art

 

WAR

Brangwyn was not an official war artist, although he produced over 80 poster designs during the first World War.  The compositions and details were based largely on his experience of the Messina earthquake which he saw in 1909 when visiting his friend R H Kitson in Sicily.  Such memories and sketches were supplemented by news agency photographs and the daily illustrations of destruction which appeared in The Times, together with loans of German and British uniforms and guns from the Imperial War Museum and the United States Naval Authorities.

A large proportion of Brangwyn’s work during this period was given free of charge to charitable groups, for example the Red Cross, National Institute for the Blind (St Dunstan’s Hostel for Blinded Soldiers and Sailors), Belgian and Allied Aid League and probably Orphelinat des Armees, an American charity in aid of a French Army Orphanage.

Clients included the National War Savings Committee, Frank Pick of UERCL (Underground Electric Railways Company of London), the United States Navy and various companies who desired Rolls of Honour.  Newspapers were also keen to prove their patriotism and Brangwyn designed six recruiting posters for the Daily Chronicle, whilst the Daily Mail and Evening Standard both commissioned designs for War Bond Stamps sold in aid of the Red Cross.  Six lithographs were also produced for the Canadian War Memorial Fund, and Brangwyn was involved with the Ministry of Information’s Britain’s Efforts and Ideals of War, producing one design for Ideals (The Freedom of the Seas) and a series of six for Efforts, entitled Making Sailors.

The war posters are among Brangwyn’s most pictorial, with little decorative content.  Many of the subjects verge on sentimentality and most of the figures are caricatures.  However, if the aim of a poster is to sell an idea to a particular section of the public, then Brangwyn’s work can only be regarded as successful, the product of an empathetic response to the ordinary working man, stimulating his emotions, his pity for prisoners, the wounded, and orphans.

The following selection of war related posters is placed in date order. The number in brackets following the title of each Brangwyn work indicates the number by which the work is identified in the Catalogue Raisonne.

 

vengeance
desolation
ball
Vow of Vengeance (W1085), 1914-1918, two colour lithograph printed by The Avenue Press, 58x48.6cm, multiple ownership. Exh: War Graphics, Arents House, Bruges, 2001. Lit and Ill: Marechal, Frank Brangwyn: Collection Catalogue, Bruges, 1987, p286. Lit: Horner and Naylor (Eds), Frank Brangwyn 1867-1956, Leeds/Bruges, 2006, p108. Ill: The Avenue Press, catalogue, January 1918. Corny and caricatured, similar to Rockwell. The drawing was produced as a poster by The Daily Chronicle with the unbelievable tag: 'DAILY CHRONICLE READERS ARE/COVERED AGAINST THE RISKS OF BOMBARDMENT BY ZEPPELIN OR/AEROPLANE.' Desolation on the French Front (W2872), 1914-1918, lithograph, 91.4x137.2cm, multiple ownership. Ill: The Avenue Press, catalogue, 1920. More like a Nash scene, and very different from the previous work. One is almost deafened by the intrinsic silence. French Benevolent Society (P2645), 1914-1918, 3 colour lithograh, 76x50.8cm, multiple ownership. Related works: Old Italian Women (D3421). Exh: Brangwyn Centenary, Wales, 1967, Cat 120. Lit and Ill: Marechal, Frank Brangwyn: Collection Catalogue, Bruges, 1987, p286. The old women, one of them aged 100, were originally sketched by Brangwyn in Sicily. The thought of these three old dears advertising a French Ball and dancing until 3am is slightly bizarre!
orphelinat 2
Ypres
woman
Orphelinat des Armees 2 (W1331), 1914-1918, two colour lithograph printed by The Avenue Press, 156x105cm, multiple ownership. Exhibited: Frank Brangwyn 1867-1956, Leeds, bruges, Swansea, 2006. Lit and Ill: Sparrow, Prints and Drawings by Frank Brangwyn, London: John Lane, 1919, p196 and facing p176. Lit: Horner and Naylor (Eds), Frank Brangwyn 1867-1956, Leeds/Bruges, 2006, p108 Ill: The Avenue Press, catalogue, January 1918. One of two posters produced for an American charity for a French flag day in aid of the French Army Orphanage, Paris. Soldiers' and Sailors' Tobacco Fund - 'Ypres Tower' (W1622), 1914-1918, lithograph poster printed by the Avenue Press, 101.5x152.2cm, multiple ownership. Exh: The Fine Art Society, 1916. Lit: 'Studio-Talk', The Studio, Vol 64, April 1915, p198-200 (and Ill p199); Sparrow, Prints and Drawings by Frank Brangwyn, London: John Lane, 1919, p195. Ill: The Avenue Press, catalogue, January 1918. The encouragement of smoking, in whatever circumstances, would not be tolerated in our present PC world. Woman's Work in War (W3745), 1914-1918, lithograph printed by The Avenue Press, 59.5x47.2cm, multiple ownership. Exh: The Fine Art Society, 1916; War Graphics, Arents House, Bruges, 2001. Lit and Ill: Marechal, Frank Brangwyn: Collection Catalogue, Bruges, 1987, p291. Lit: Horner and Naylor (Eds), Frank Brangwyn 1867-1956, Leeds/Bruges, 2006, p108. Ill: The Avenue Press, catalogue, January 1918
daily mail fund
Antwerp
ideals
War Bond Stamps 1 (W1366), c1915, colour lithograph printed by The Avenue Press, 5.1x6.6cm, multiple ownership. Exh: War Graphics, Arents House, Bruges, 2001. Lit and Ill: Marechal, Frank Brangwyn: Collection Catalogue, Bruges, 1987, p236. Printed for the Daily Mail Fund for the Red Cross from Brangwyn's series of woodcuts titled At the Front and At the Base. The figures are caricatured in the vein of Rockwell. Antwerp: The Last Boat (W1090), 1915-1916, lithograph printed by The Avenue Press, 100x60.8cm, multiple ownership. Studies: Last Boat out of Antwerp, charcoal and red crayon drawing, 60.8x85.3cm, Arents House, Cat No 0.950. Exh: The Fine Art Society, 1916; Etchings and Lithographs by Frank Brangwyn, Brighton Art Gallery, 1935, Cat 169; War Graphics, Arents House, Bruges, 2001; Art in Exile: Flanders, Wales and WW1, Ghent, Heino, Cardiff, 2002, Cat73. Lit and Ill: Marechal, Frank Brangwyn: Collection Catalogue, Bruges, 1987, p182. Lit: Horner and Naylor (Eds), Frank Brangwyn 1867-1956, Leeds/Bruges, 2006, p108, 109. Ill: The Avenue Press, catalogue, January 1918; Sparrow, Prints and Drawings by Frank Brangwyn, London: John Lane, 1919, facing p184. The posters advertised and were sold on behalf of the Belgian Red Cross - Brangwyn retained a devotion to the country of his birth. Freedom of the Seas (W1119), c1917, auto-lithograph in colour, 46x73.8cm, multiple ownership. Studies: Whalers, mixed media on paper, 40x49cm, Doncaster Art Gallery; Fishermen in Rough Sea, charcoal and crayon drawing, 25.5x44.5cm, private collection. Exh: War Drawings by Brangwyn and others, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1917, cat 360; Shipping Exhibition, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1924, Cat 232; 50 years of lithography by the Senefelder Club 1910-1960, Manchester Art Gallery, 1960, Cat 31. Lit and Ill: The Studio, Vol 104, August 1917, p104, 105. Lit: Horner and Naylor (Eds), Frank Brangwyn 1867-1956, Leeds/Bruges, 2006, p108. Ill: The Avenue Press, catalogue, January 1920. Brangwyn was one of 12 artists commissioned by the Ministry of Information to design a poster depicting the Ideals of War. He portrays the enemy symbolically as a frightful mythical sea monster.
youthful
buy war bonds
peace
Making Sailors: Youthful Ambition (W1120), c1917, auto-lithograph, 45.5x35.5cm, multiple ownership. Studies: Study, chalk drawing, 40.6x30.5cm, Dudley Corporation. Related works: Child in Let the People Praise Thee, Christ's Hospital murals (M1109). Exh: War Drawings by Brangwyn and others, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1917, cat 386; Brangwyn Centenary, Wales, 1967, Cat 105; War Graphics, Arents House, Bruges, 2001. Lit and Ill: Marechal, Frank Brangwyn: Collection Catalogue, Bruges, 1987, p185. Lit: Horner and Naylor (Eds), Frank Brangwyn 1867-1956, Leeds/Bruges, 2006, p108. Ill: The Studio, Vol 104, August 1917, p106; The Avenue Press, catalogue, January 1920; Garton, British Printmakers 1855-1955, Devizes, 1992, p211. Brangwyn was one of a number of artists commissioned to design a series of 6 lithographs depicting the Efforts of War. This rather poignant, pared down image shows a young lad yearning to be aboard the shadowy naval cruiser. Put Strength in the Final Blow. Buy War Bonds (W2340), 1918, auto-lithograph, 153x101.5cm, multiple ownership. Studies: War Loan Poster, pencil and crayon drawing, 39.6x44.5cm, Mildura Arts Centre (MD9); Proof, hand coloured by artist, V&A (E.3511-1931). Lit and Ill: Timmers (Ed), The Power of the Poster, V&A, London, 1998, p146-151. Ill: The Avenue Press, catalogue, January 1920. Willsdon, Mural Painting in Britain, OUP, 2000, p125; Hollis, Graphic Design. A Concise History, Lodnon, 2004, p33. Brangwyn borrowed uniforms of British and German soldiers from the Imperial War Museum to ensure accuracy. The poster, issued by the National War Savings Committee, was described by Rickards as 'one of the most vicious posters that the war produced'. Peace (P1367), c1918, 3 colour lithograph printed by T B Lawrence, 76x53cm, multiple ownership. Studies: Man Sowing Seed, black wax crayon on waxed paper, 50.8x46.5cm, William Morris gallery (D295). Exh: Prints and Drawings, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, 1983, cat 56; Brangwyn's Gift, Brighton Art Gallery, 2007; Brangwyn, William Morris Gallery, 2007. Lit and Ill: Marechal, Frank Brangwyn: Collection Catalogue, Bruges, 1987, p292. A sharp contrast to the agression ofthe preceeding poster, and one more in tune with Brangwyn's pacifism. Commissioned by the Daily Herald.
damn
shell
arras 2
Damn the War (V1484), c1919, woodcut, 7.7x6.5cm. Studies: Woodcut sketches, drawing, 20.5x26.5cm, Liss Fine Art. Exh: War Graphics, Arents House, Bruges, 2001. Lit and Ill: Marechal, Frank Brangwyn: Collection Catalogue, Bruges, 1987, p266; Lit: Horner and Naylor (Eds), Frank Brangwyn 1867-1956, Leeds/Bruges, 2006, p102,103. Ill: Sparrow, Prints and Drawings by Frank Brangwyn, London: John Lane, 1919, facing p97. The stance of the man is reminiscent of the innocent victim in Goya's The Execution of the Rebels on 3rd May 1808, 1814. Shell (W3737), c1919, lithograph poster, 54x48cm, multiple ownership. Ill: The Beacon, February 1917, p13; The Avenue Press, catalogue, January 1918. This is one of a set of 5 designs Brangwyn produced at the invitation of Sir Arthur Pearson for the National Institute of the Blind. The designs were gifted by Brangwyn to St Dunstan's Hostel for Blinded Soldiers and Sailors. Ruins of War: Arras (W1203), lithograph poster, 47.3x61.6cm, multiple ownership. Related works: Arras (D2232), watercolour, private collection. Exh: Mansard Gallery, 1919; Brangwyn Exhibition, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, 1933; Etchings and Lithographs by Frank Brangwyn, Brighton Art Gallery, 1935, Cat 170; War Graphics, Arents House, Bruges, 2001. Lit and Ill: Marechal, Frank Brangwyn: Collection Catalogue, Bruges, 1987, p185. Lit: Gillow, Catalogue of Works by Brangwyn, William Morris Gallery, 1974, p79. Ill: The Avenue Press, catalogue, January 1920. One of a series of 6 lithographs showing sites where Canadian soldiers had fought, designed for the Canadian War Memorial Fund set up by Lord Beaverbrook.