The war at sea: a series of paintings by Norman Wilkinson.

NO RMAN WILKINSON, O.B.E., P . M . , began his a r t studies with a short. period i n Paris, b u t decided n o t to become a figure painter, a n d left o n a n umb e r of voyages which were to provide h i m wi t h the ma r i t ime subjects he preferred. At the outbreak of the Gr e a t W a r h e gave u p the position h e t hen h e l d as a ma r i ne illustrator t o j o i n the Royal Naval Reserve as a n Assistant Paymaster. I n this capacity h e served five months i n the Dardanelles, a n d eight mon t h s on anti-submarine pa t r o l i n the Mediterranean. Later, as a l i eu t enan t i n the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, he commanded a minesweeper i n the English Channel. Du r i n g this service he evolved the "Dazzle" system of ship camouflage, which was adop t ed by every Allied country. H e has published a n illustrated book o n t he Dardanelles campaign: The Dardanelles: Colour Sketches from Gallipoli. H e was engaged for a time as A r t Adviser to the L.M.S. Railway, a n d i n 1936 was elected President o f the Royal Institute of Painters i n Wa t e r Colours. Wh e n the present wa r began h e was acting as Adviser o n camouflage t o the Air Ministry, wi t h the r a n k of Hono r a r y A i r Commodore, b u t h e left i n 1942 to begin the series of pictures now o n exhibition. H e ma d e various trips to sea, a n d the sketches for the paintings of the No rma n d y landings were don e on H.M. Destroyer Jervis which took p a r t i n t he action. T h e series was completed i n August, 1943, a n d first exhibited a t the National Gallery, London, a mo n t h later. to 2 N O T E B Y T H E ARTIST 01 T i n s s e r i e s o f p i c t u r e s o f the W a r a t S e a has been painted with a v i e w t o giving some idea of the work of the Navy, the Merchant Service a n d Coastal Conmand. Naval subjects preloiiiinate, b u t a n umb e r of pictures of the two latter Services are included. I h e subject is a v a s t o n e a n d a whole series could be devoted to the work of the Me r chan t Service, a nd yet ano t he r to t ha t of Coastal Command , so that while only the fringe of the sea wa r has been recorded, it is. hoped that it may give some idea of the achievements of the three Services. On e feature, a n d a most impo r t a n t one, which is no t s h o w n is t h e g r e a t work of o u r submarines. A submarine wh e n ma k i ng a n attack on a n enemy vessel is submerged with no t h i ng b u t h e r periscope showing, a nd that only prior to firing he r torpedoes. A periscope is a small tiling in a n expanse of sea, a n d almost unseen in broken water, so that a picture would only show the exp1o.ion of a torpedo oil the enemy ship and, from the standpoint of showing a siihniaritie in action, would have little interest. I l l e pi;ttires have l)eell 111Ilted from iiiany sources, those showing Naval act ions being reconstructed from descriptions supplied i)y pa1ti(ipan ts i l l the actions conCerne(1. It is difficult for a s i n g l e m e m b e r o f a ship's company to give a comprehensive i(Iea of a Naval action in which he is e n g a g e d . Funnel smoke a n d gunfire may at times completely mask the field of vision 0 ! one ol)server, while i n a n o t h e r v e s s e l a n o b s e r v e r may i)e SO placed as to s e e this area clearly. I have therefore tried to l)ui 1(1 u p t h e p i c t t i r e s f r o m a 1111111 her of i n ( l e f ) e n ( I e n t a n d a u t h e n t i c s o u r c e s . As a result, it h a s i)eelm IoLmn(I t h a t i n time imma iii o n e has I)eeii a N e t o s a t i s f y t h o s e e n g a g e d ill t h e act Mils that t lie pict u tes (10 g i v e a r e a s o l i a l ) l y t r u e i m p r e s s i o n o f t h e e v e n t s portrayed. S o m e o f t h e l C 1 d a r e p a i n t e d f r o m d i r e c t s k e t c h e s , t h o s e f o r i n s t a n c e of A N o r t h e r n P o r t , S o m e Of the Convoy pi(tlmres, a n d t h o s e o f t h e N a v y ' s pam in the i n v a S i o n o f Normandy. 3