Artists and War Art

Abstract

A war artist is one who captures the subject of war in some type of artistic form. Since the beginning of time, artists have recorded scenes of war as a visual record of a culture’s existence and tribulations. Images of battles, ship portraits, leaders, and soldiers made up the bulk of war images until the late 19th century. The creators of the majority of these works are unknown, but when the entire world first went to war in 1914, nations hired official war artists to depict the action, including warplanes, tanks, and other newly developed technologies, among other aspects, as subject matter. These artists were mostly men, who were on the front lines sketching, painting, and photographing the action, collecting the visuals of war that they might then collate into an official work for a nation. As the 20th century progressed into our current era, images became immediately accessible on television and film, in news reports, and in live streams, as reporters embedded themselves with soldiers. Official war artists still exist in several nations, as do official collections of artwork created by them. We also have vibrant unofficial images of war produced by soldiers and prisoners for their own purposes, or by people protesting war itself. In compiling this bibliography, we sought to convey the breadth of war art mainly in 2-D media in chronology, type, artistic style, and maker, including voices of artists whenever possible. We also considered how artists from differing sides in battle impact each other’s artistic production. Being an artist who depicts war is a challenge. How do you convey honor and brutality, tradition and modernity, glory and defeat? How do you watch devastation around you and provide witness as you record the intensity and sadness of death? Combat artists of a particular country create art that reveals their experience of war. Is it personal? Or should it only be a documentary? The complexities found in creating the art of war are many, yet without these works there are centuries of battle we would not understand from social, political, or technological viewpoints.