c1914, oil, 175.3x508cm.
Provenance: Kojiro Matsukata, destroyed in Pantechnicon fire 1939.
Studies: Photographs EP34, 35, 36, 37, 65, 66, 67, Liss Fine Art; Study, pastel on brown paper, squared, 55.5x127cm, private collection, Canada; Belgium 1914, oil, 72.5×82.5cm, pwu.
Related works: Exodus (V1333).
Exhibited: Queen’s Gate, 1924, Cat 45, titled Belgium.
Literature: Sparrow, Frank Brangwyn and His Work, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1915, p236.
Illustrated: Masters of Modern Art, London: Colour Ltd; Queen’s Gate catalogue, 1924.
The work illustrates Belgians fleeing their country during World War 1
Photographic study for Exodus, squared, private collection. Brangwyn frequently used photographs to help with his studies for large paintings and murals – this is one of at least 7 known to have been taken for the Exodus painting. The people seen in this image were probably Brangwyn’s neighbours in Hammersmith and would have been posed and photographed by the artist himself.
Photograph courtesy Liss Llewellyn.