War artist Richard Jack portrays the Canadian stand during the Second Battle of Ypres, which he did not witness. He painted this enormous work of art, with the canvas 371.5 by 589.0 centimetres, in his London studio. It was the first of almost a thousand works, by over one hundred artists, commissioned by the Canadian War Memorials Fund (CWMF), an organization established by Lord Beaverbrook to document Canada's war effort. Sir Edmund Walker, who sat on the advisory board to the CWMF, felt that Jack captured the achievements of the Canadians during the battle, but felt the work would not resonate with Canadians, who, he felt, were "not likely to appreciate such realistic treatment of war." He was wrong and Jack's painting remains an iconic work from the First World War.
Painted by Richard Jack
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
CWM 19710261-0161
Canada and the First World War
