Paul Nash: The Menin Road

IWM ART 2242

Paul Nash was beginning to forge his artistic reputation when the war broke out. After training at the Slade School of Art, and having his first one-man exhibition in 1912, Nash joined the Artists’ Rifles along with several of his contemporaries, including his brother John. He later saw service in the Ypres Salient before being invalided home. During his recuperation he exhibited war works, which led to Nash becoming an official war artist.

In early 1918 he was commissioned to paint a Flanders battlefield for the Hall of Remembrance. Nash depicted an area known as ‘Tower Hamlets’ near the Belgian village of Gheluveldt, one of the most battle-scarred areas of the Ypres sector. Two human figures appear overwhelmed by a hellish landscape comprised of flooded shell craters, shattered trees, concrete blocks and corrugated iron that seems to signify a harsh new order.

1919, 1828 mm x 3175 mm