Great War truck Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 It has been a bit quiet on the forum recently and to stir things up, encourage a lively debate which will probably end up in fisticuffs in the club house car park, I thought I would ask if anybody has any favourite paintings. I think one of mine is "The last stand of the 44th Regiment at Gundamuck", which occurred on our last withdrawal from Kabul. A bit of artistic interpretation but the end result is rather impressive. Does anybody else have any favourites? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 It has been a bit quiet on the forum recently and to stir things up, encourage a lively debate which will probably end up in fisticuffs in the club house car park, I thought I would ask if anybody has any favourite paintings..... Don't worry - additional security has been laid on for the duration of this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pzkpfw-e Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Raft of the Medusa, by Gericault. It's in the Louvre & it's HUGE! Figures are life-sized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 (edited) Raft of the Medusa, by Gericault.....It's in the Louvre & it's HUGE!Figures are life-sized. Huge? That ain't HUGE - this is HUGE! Panorama Raclawicka in Wroclaw, Poland - 15ft high and considerably longer! From wiki: The project was conceived as a patriotic manifestation commemorating the 100th anniversary of the victorious Battle of Racławice, a famous episode of the Kościuszko Insurrection, a heroic but ultimately failed attempt to defend Polish independence. The battle was fought on 4 April 1794 between the insurrectionist force of regulars and peasant volunteers (bearing homemade scythes) under Kościuszko (1746–1817) himself and the Russian army commanded by GeneralAlexander Tormasov. For the nation which had lost its independence, the memory of this glorious victory was particularly important. Try this for an idea of the scale: And try this for an appreciation of the detail:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuETxEvzoVM You really have to see it to appreciate it though. Edited September 21, 2013 by N.O.S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted September 21, 2013 Author Share Posted September 21, 2013 Good stuff. We have entered the lively debate phase. Next comes the pushing each other phase. it is indeed a big picture. Very big indeed, but I know of another even bigger one, but we will come back to that later. What makes a painting special for me is knowing the background to the story. So, the raft of the Medusa I am familiar with and I love the painting. The background to the last stand of the 44th is tragic, and I have reproduced it below: The 44th Foot fought in the First Anglo-Afghan War and the regiment formed the rearguard on the retreat from Kabul. After a continuous running battle in two feet of snow, the force had been reduced to fewer than forty men. On 13 January 1842, the few survivors of the decimated regiment made a last stand against Afghan tribesmen on a rocky hill near the village of Gandamak. The ground was frozen and icy. The men had no shelter and were starving. Only a dozen of the men had working muskets, the officers their pistols and a few unbroken swords. When the Afghans surrounded them on the morning of the 13th the Afghans announced that a surrender could be arranged. "Not bloody likely!" was the bellowed answer of one British sergeant. It is believed that only two survived the massacre. Most notable was Captain Thomas Souter, who by wrapping the regimental colours around himself was taken prisoner, being mistaken by the Afghan as a high military official. The other was Surgeon William Brydon who rode his exhausted horse for days until he came to the British garrison at Jalalabad. So, does anybody have anymore? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 (edited) I'm ashamed to admit I could not tell you much about the Raclawicka panorama. But having just fired a 2-6-2 some 30 miles into Wroclaw, viewing it made a fascinating way to fill the time before driving back! My favourite paintings have no military connection. If I had to choose one it would be one of the many evocative oil/acrylic paintings of USAAF bombers, or an acrylic MV painting by Pavel Holy (mentioned on HMVF before). Edited September 21, 2013 by N.O.S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 But having just fired a 2-6-2 some 30 miles into Wroclaw, viewing it made a fascinating way to fill the time before driving back! Hey Tony, Don't just leave like that, there must be a good story connected with that remark. Better be on a new thread else the Mods will be on to you! Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted September 21, 2013 Author Share Posted September 21, 2013 Quite right. I think we should issue Tony with a special off topic exemption certificate in this case. Do tell us more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locolines Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Any painting on the Airfix boxes. Not only were they art in their own right, but art is supposed to stir the imagination. nothing better stirred my imagination as a five or six year old, than seeing a picture of a Flying Fortress in trouble, but bravely fighting off a jerry attack, or a Stirling bomber being loaded up for its next mission, or. Crusader tank charging across the desert all guns blazing. See ! It's working already ! , now where's my new airfix catalogue ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Some 8 or so years back I experienced the Wolzstyn Experience! http://www.thewolsztynexperience.org/footplating.php A friend and I were the only two that week - so just one locomotive in steam. You stay in the old crew dormitory at the roundhouse at Wolzstyn depot - it was due to close but a couple of English guys negotiated an arrangement with the Polish Railways whereby they would find enough people to pay for the priveledge of driving / firing steam locomotives to keep the depot viable. It is a very steep learning curve. No English spoken but when the crew pull out of the station on the first morning - then immediately step back and wave you into the positions, it starts! One drives one way while the other fires, return journey you swap over. In my youth I used to fire on a preservation line in the early pre LRO days, but this is something else - no 25mph limit here, the line will cope with 60mph and the schedule demands it! Once you've overshot the first couple of platforms at the many stations en route and the irate Polish commuters shake their fists at you as they make their way along the track back to the platform, you soon get the measure of it. It can't last forever - if you've half a mind to do it - do it soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locolines Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Some of my customers have done the Polish train experience, they come back with the biggest grins I have ever seen on their faces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Some 8 or so years back I experienced the Wolzstyn Experience! Good story, Tony. Just watched someone on You Tube doing the same, getting dirty and having fun, nothing like steam! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 When I was at MOD Main Building, part of the job was to check the political offices. The artwork on the wall was superb, it was a pleasure to do the job. However, to be awkward, my favourite was a staute, a huge pice about three foot long and similar height in bronze of a 1848 Nizza Cavalaryman as his horse was going down. Stunning piece full of action.http://militaria.forum-xl.com/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=1866 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 The Canadian artist Alex Colville has a realism that is inspiring and yet haunting. Having done work in the National Gallery that housed this picture one always felt that you were being watched no matter where you went in that particular gallery. It is titled Ferry to PEI. A significant artist with many wartime images to his credit and a Canadian treasure. R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero-Five-Two Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 Favourite painting, My choice is a quite modern one. Terrance Cuneo was commissioned by the Royal Engineers to paint this scene in 1983 to commemorate the work of the Corps in Northern Ireland. It is particularly poinyant to me as I could well be the guy in the Allis Chalmers bucket loader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 (edited) If we are going non military http://www.ayresfineart.co.uk/gallery/country/across-the-moor.jpg Devon and Somerset Bitch pack hind hunting at Whitstones above Porlock, Feruary 1975. The rider on the bay horse is Gerald Kyle the whip on Callie, the chestnut horse is Peter Cox's Jim, and the reason I know. I'm riding him. Edited September 22, 2013 by Tony B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted October 4, 2013 Author Share Posted October 4, 2013 Thanks for those. Some really nice paintings there. Whereabouts is the mouse in the Cuneo? He did a painting of the D Day landings once and the mouse in that was wearing a steel helmet. Any more favourites gentleman? If we don't get more interest I cant see Jack getting the Heritage Lottery Grant for the new art gallery on the clubhouse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 ....Whereabouts is the mouse in the Cuneo? ....... Behind the dash of the AEC dump truck eating the wiring harness? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddy Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 I once was tanked by my then girlfriend (now wife), to a Holbein exhibition at the Tate. Two have stuck in my mind: The first was a sketch of a hand, it was so fresh and real. The second was a portrait of Henry VIII, it wasn't the usual full length of him fist on hip, it was head and torso and the look in his eye was amazingly scary. You knew why this fella was the most powerful man in England. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wally dugan Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 For me it has to be THE MIGHTY ANTAR by ALAN FEARNLEY it brings to life the sounds and smells of early mornings in GERMANY and GOODBYE OLD FRIEND mans friend ship with his horse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapper Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 I like too many. I was in the Museum of Modern Art in New York recently and they have some stunning stuff including the classic Van Gogh of Starry Starry Night fame and a whole room full of Monet's waterlilles. William Holman Hunt's Strayed Sheep of 1852 - painted at Fairlight is in the Tate Gallery - a gem. I've got a print of it and a fridge magnet. In Canada a few years ago I nearly bought a railway scene from a shop in Banff that was stunning - but my Mrs decided we didn't have room for it. I can't remember the artist.. will check. How daft. I've always loved the Cuneo and David Shepherd stuff of trains and I've got a Spitfire being watched over by the ghost of an SE5 in the house which was a wedding present from my late father which means the world to me. I used to collect those little Michael Turner copy card prints when I was young and silly - there was one of a Handley Page Heyford I will always love and wish I had the real thing of. The master remains Frank Wootton. I have an old book of his work I bought at Hendon in about 1978 and I cherish it. He is the main man of aviation art for me. I'm actually a cartoons man by practice. I've got a few. A JAK from the Evening Standard, some of his proofs. (his dog bit me once...long story), A Garth proof from the 1970s from when I worked at the Mirror, other bits of graphics, lots of books, but no Giles original..too good to be true - my dad spent a lot of time at the Express but never wangled that one. I love that sort of art. I had more, but chucked stuff out when I got married. Some of the worst decisions were stuff from my time at the Melody Maker - hey ho... Lynyrd Skynyrd artwork from a US trade mag was a poor one for starters... MB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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