War Art

WAR ART
A war provides the artist with a number of interesting themes and events to record and document. A war artist records the war uniquely, some are soldiers with an interest in drawing, others are sanctioned by the government and some create propaganda.


War images have been present for centuries, Velázquez painted this treaty painting.

The Surrender of Breda 1635 Velázquez, 1634, 307cm x 367 cm

Rubens painted The Massacre Of the Innocents-1611

Otto Dix 'Sturmtruppe geht unter Gas vor [Stormtroops advancing under gas]' 1924 etching, aquatint, drypoint Collection of the National Gallery of Australia,

Verwundeter (Herbst 1916, Bapaume) [Wounded soldier - Autumn 1916, Bapaume], plate 6 from Der Krieg Intaglio etching, aquatint Edition: ed. 58/70

Some artists have taken an expressionistic approach to record the horrors of wars-
Der Krieg [War] 1924 arose out of Dix’s own experiences of the horrors of war. Otto Dix had volunteered for service in the army and fought as a machine-gunner on the Western Front. He was wounded a number of times, once almost fatally. War profoundly affected him as an individual and as an artist, and he took every opportunity, both during his active service and afterwards, to document his experiences.

In 1963, explaining why he volunteered for the army in the First World War he had this to say:
"I had to experience how someone beside me suddenly falls over and is dead and the bullet has hit him squarely. I had to experience that quite directly. I wanted it. I’m therefore not a pacifist at all – or am I? Perhaps I was an inquisitive person. I had to see all that myself. I’m such a realist, you know, that I have to see everything with my own eyes in order to confirm that it’s like that. I have to experience all the ghastly, bottomless depths of life for myself"…[3]
In the same interview, he also had this to say:
"As a young man you don’t notice at all that you were, after all, badly affected. For years afterwards, at least ten years, I kept getting these dreams, in which I had to crawl through ruined houses, along passages I could hardly get through."

http://nga.gov.au/dix/



Others paint as nationalistic propaganda


Battle scenes provide the artist with a number of poses for the figure, fallen corpses, attacking soldiers, arming guns and weapons, waiting in trenches, receiving medical aid, manning horses/vehicles.

Ivor Hele, Australian troops disembarking at Alexandria after the evacuation of Greece
painted in Aldinga, South Australia in 1943
oil on canvas
139.9 x 206 cm

The war artist faces tremendous risks in war zones to experience and record what he or she sees. War artists commissioned by the government and not enrolled in the military enter war zones unarmed and prone to danger. What sparks the civilian to enter war zones to be an artist? Otto Dix’s remarks reveal one attitude, the ability to be witness to such human actions, however other interests are present in war artists.

George Gittoes is a contemporary social realist who travels to war scenes through out the world, including Nicaragua, the Philippines, Somalia, Sinai, Southern Lebanon, Israel, Gaza, Western Sahara, Cambodia, Laos, Mozambique, South Africa, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Bougainville, Tibet, Timor, the Congo and Rwanda.to bear witness to those who have experienced trauma through their environment.


His images, including dead bodies, diseased children, blindness and amputation are confronting and take a different perspective to the media. Constant bombardment of disturbing images in the media has caused many people to feel “desensitised” to violence. It is harder, however, to become comfortable or familiar with Gittoes’s images, as his art appeals to human emotion and ideas of justice, rather than political theories.

Gittoes pursues his career as war artist and the topics he looks into because he believes that by focusing and questioning man’s inhumanity will we be able to understand and change ourselves. “ I believe there is a role for contemporary art to challenge, rather than entertain. My work is confronting humanity with the darker side of itself.”

Kibeho (Rwanda)
oil on Canvas 240x258 cm 1995

Does war art have more or less impact than war photography? While the artist can exaggerate with style, embellish poses and scenes, the war photographer merely records with their camera. The effect of reality as expressed through painting and photography differ. War paintings are so entrenched with the human element/ emotions that they offer a subjective personal view, whereas the camera offers a more objective view, although the photographer is still present in its composition and creation. Personally war paintings seem more eternal and powerful. Photographs have to ability to confront us, to display viewers with real scenes of life captured, but not recorded with the sensibilities of the senses. War paintings present us with images conceived through human eyes, human ears, fingers and noses, photographs present us with mechanical snapshots of powerful moments in human history.

The third of May by Francisco de Goya 1814 :Oil on canvas Dimensions 268 cm × 347 cm Location Museo del Prado, Madrid

Austrians executing Serbs

The comparisons between these two images are striking; both depict soldiers executing unarmed foes. In Goya’s painting, the innocents are unarmed civilians, in the photograph Austrians are executing unarmed Serbian soldiers. The immense emotional impact is shared between the two visuals; both generate emotions of disgust, sympathy and terror.

These two images can exist in the wider framework on the power of art versus photography in terms of value, integrity and effectiveness. When analyzing these two images, some background information is to be known about how the images were created.

Goya was a Spaniard who was appalled by the treatment of occupying the French army at the start of the 19th century. The painting was commissioned by the provisional government of Spain at Goya's suggestion. Goya did not experience the scene shown in the painting, although he witnesses several similar events. Because of the commissioned nature of the work, it has a particular bias against the French which has some historical precedents. It is a large painting, measuring 268 cm × 347 cm and would have taken considerable time to plan and finish. It is likely he hired models to pose for the characters in the painting.

The photograph was taken instantly of a squad of Austrians seconds before firing at a number of kneeling, blind folded Serbians. The photograph is in high contrast, the blacks stand out against the whites. The image was taken by an Austrian photographer. This photograph captures a brief second, the moment before the execution as the soldiers steady their breath and aim.

Goya’s paintings serves an obvious purpose, to document the injustice of the occupying army, however the purpose of the photograph is a little ambiguous. On one level it serves as a historical document, but it isn’t clear why the photograph was taken and the intention of the photographer. Both images share similarities and differences and both have substantial emotional impact on the viewer.

John Singer Sargent, gassed
1918
Imperial War Museum
Oil on canvas
Full painting -- 231 x 611.1 cm

When analyzing War Art it is crucial in understanding the background behind the artist and their intent creating images. The effectiveness and integrity of the art depends on the truth and skill of the artist when creating these haunting works. War art serves many different purposes, as a visual reminder to the horrors and disasters of war, to document and preserve the lives of soldiers and to serve as nationalistic propaganda. War art is one of the most powerful documents of man’s inhumanity to man that we have available to us today. It preserves the visual history of man’s violent struggle through sanctioned murder and destruction and reminds us of our own mortality and safety.