An unnaturally bright sun blazes over a landscape with a river. There is an aircraft flying over the desert in the lower right of the composition.
Art.IWM ART 4623

This exceptional collection is one of the most important representations of twentieth century British art in the world.

It includes many great works of art from the British government war art schemes of the First and Second World Wars, which employed the greatest artists of their day, including leaders of the avant garde. These included Paul Nash, C R W Nevinson, John Singer Sargent and Sir William Orpen. 

IWM also holds the unique War Artists Archive, which reveals the day-to-day running of the war art schemes and gives fascinating glimpses of the artists' experiences.

Today IWM continues to commission artists such as Steve McQueen, Roddy Buchanan and Susan Philipsz, and the collection reflects recent and contemporary conflicts including Northern Ireland, the Falklands, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Important works from outside official schemes can also be found in the collection, by artists ranging from Edward Burra to Willie Doherty. The collection of almost 20,000 items includes paintings, prints and drawings, sculpture, and works in media such as photography, sound, and film.

Second World War Official War Art Factsheet

War Artists Archive

The Archive covers the work of IWM and government committees during both world wars, as well as recent streams of commissioning. It comprises well over 1,000 files documenting the official commissioning and purchase of war art relating to these conflicts, including correspondence with individual artists as well as administrative files covering matters such as policy, committee meetings and exhibitions.

Popular Design and Illustration

An international collection of over 20,000 posters, along with popular prints, postcards, proclamations and other publicity materials, gives an insight into the images of war that would have been seen in the streets, workplaces, post offices and canteens of Britain, Germany and other nations during the First and Second World Wars. They are very revealing about national identity, the daily experience of war and how different nations persuaded their people to keep fighting. Eye-catching posters and postcards in the collection from more recent times are largely produced by protest movements such as CND and Stop the War, or as charity advertising.

Find out how to order and licence images, or order artistic prints

Art And Design

Art at IWM

A painting entitled Christmas Day in the London Bridge YMCA Canteen. Depicts a lively scene of women serving up tea and cake set against a backdrop of flag bunting.
© IWM (IWM ART 3062)
Clare Atwood, 'Christmas Day in the London Bridge YMCA Canteen' (1920).

IWM holds an exceptional art collection documenting conflict since 1914. The collection features artists from Sir William Orpen to commissions by Steve McQueen and Susan Philipsz.

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A series of figures, with only their heads and shoulders visible, are gathered together at a dockside with a warship recently returned from the Falklands looming over them in the background. There is a coffin covered with a British Union Jack flag amongst them, juxtaposed with the hands of some of the figures making victory signs. In the centre, a soldier and a woman kiss and embrace after being reunited. They are surrounded by the heads of eight other people.
© IWM Art.IWM ART (16248)
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Three officers stand to the left of the composition beside a pile of ammunition boxes. Each looks in a different direction. One has his back to the viewer and looks out over the scene of the painting. There are marionette-like figures moving over broken ground, amongst the huts and shattered trees. Streams of stylised smoke erupts from incoming shells and spreads across the sky.
© Art.IWM ART (2747)
First World War

10 incredible paintings from the Hall of Remembrance series

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