Exhibition Theme - Home

In the shelter

This view of the interior of a blockhouse shelter during the London Blitz is one of many images that were commissioned and purchased by the War Artists Advisory Committee: the British government was anxious to show how the civilian population coped under fire and how adequate provision had been made for their defence. Ardizzone's painting is typically comic; the couple, asleep on their feet, counterbalance precariously above a child, and the figure behind is clearly snoring. There is also an obvious tenderness in his painting, along with a recognition of the uncomfortable conditions.

Watercolour on paper 18.6 x 24.7 cm
Painted in London, 1940
Imperial War Museum ART LD 472

<< Previous | Home Index | Next >>