Much as once a week I like to take time off to cover warships (Wednesdays), on Sunday, I like to cover military art and the painters, illustrators, sculptors and the like that produce them.
Combat Gallery Sunday : The Martial Art of William Barnes Wollen
The martial art of William Barnes Wollen
Born in Leipzig in 1857, William Barnes Wollen soon became a well-known artist who worked in oils on canvas during the height of the British Empire. As such, he covered military art of his era, specializing on the British Army as it was locked in combat in the New World, Africa, and, later, in Europe. Educated at University College School, London and the Slade, by the time he was 22 he had paintings on exhibit at he Royal Academy.
The Scouts – William Barnes Wollen depicting the use of light cavalry (Hussars) during the Napoleonic Wars
“The Last Stand of the 44th at Gundamuck,” by William Barnes Wollen. In 1841 the 44th was in Kabul where uprising endangered the garrison. Constantly attacked, without shelter or food, the force waded in deep snow through narrow passes for four days trying to reach Jellalabad. As rear guard, a stand was made by 20 men at Gundamuck . Lieutenant Thomas Souter tore the Regimental Colour from its pike and wrapped it round his body. The Afghans saw the silk and thought it the waistcoat of a person of high rank suitable for ransom. Souter and Colour survived, but the Queen’s Colour was lost. The painting, done by Wollen in 1882, is currently at the Essex Regiment Museum.
“The Flag: Albuhera 16 May, 1811″ by William Barnes Wollen
The 21 Lancers at Omdurman, Sudan – William Barnes Wollen
The Black Watch at Bay, at Quatre Bras in 1815 – William Barnes Wollen
“Britain’s Watchdogs” by William Barnes Wollen depicting Napolean on the island of Elba watching the Royal Navy keeping tabs on him. (c) Museums Sheffield; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation
Battle of Lexington, 19 April 1775, by William Barns Wollen. Painted in 1910, it depicts the famous first battle of the Revolutionary War. It is currently on display at the National Army Museum in London
Battle of Abu Klea during the Sudan Campaign by William Barnes Wollen, in the collection of the National Army Museum; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation
In 1900 he was sent as a combat artist to cover the Boer War and learned first hand the whiff of cordite, the zip of incoming rounds, and the horrible aftermath of armed conflict on the modern battlefield. Likewise he traveled to the Continent to see first hand the brutality that influenced his work of the Great War.
“The Coldstream Guards 1914″
The Second Battle of Ypres (Frezenberg) by artist William Barnes Wollen, 1915 in collection of Canadian Military Museum and on display at the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Regimental Museum, Calgary
The Last Stand of the 2nd Devons at Bois-des-Buttes, 27 May 1918 – William Barnes Wollen
2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry fight the Prussian Guard at the Battle of Nonne Bosschen, 11 November 1914, by William Barnes Wollen
William Barnes Wollen, “Observation Post, winter,” One of Wollen’s final paintings. It is currently in the New Zealand Army war art collection.
A lifelong Londoner, he died in 1936 just shy of his 79th birthday. His works are on extensive display in the UK, the Commonwealth, and the U.S. and are among the best-known military pieces of their time.
Thank you for your work, sir.
