The Battle of Britain

The Control-room at South West Regional Headquarters, Bristol

0

IWM Non Commercial Licence

The media for this item are free to reuse for non-commercial purposes under the IWM Non Commercial Licence. Video, sound and images can be embedded with the code we offer here, and images can also be downloaded.

By downloading any images or embedding any media, you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is: © IWM (Art.IWM ART LD 169)

  • Download this item

    Embed HTML

    Embed BBCode
Catalogue number
  • Art.IWM ART LD 169
Production date
1940
Subject period
Materials
  • medium: oil
  • support: panel
Dimensions
  • Support: Height 635 mm
  • Support: Width 762 mm
  • Frame: Height 787 mm
  • Frame: Width 915 mm
  • Frame: Depth 40 mm
Alternative Names
  • object category: painting
Creator
Category
art

This item is available to share and reuse under the terms of the IWM Non Commercial Licence.

If you are interested in the full range of licenses available for this material, please contact one of our collections sales and licensing teams.

Object description

image: a room lit by electric light. On the right hand wall is an abstract map, with areas marked with numbers and letters. On the adjacent wall are more symbols, another smaller map and a clock. In the foreground are tables with a glass and carafe.

Label

Piper was commissioned in April 1940 to undertake ' a series of pictures of Air Raid Precaution control rooms' and was taken to these facilities in great secrecy. The strange lighting, graphics and colours created a modernist, almost brutal space which bore some affinity to the theatrical sets Piper had been designing before the war. Piper increases their abstract qualities by breaking down perspective but retains an eye for their functional importance. The paintings were exhibited at the National Gallery in July 1940 in an exhibition of British War Artists. The main map visible on the right hand wall of the room is of the No. 5 (London) Civil Defence Region. The London Control Room was in South Kensington, London, and a depiction of this headquarters is shown in a Meredith Frampton painting, IWM ART LD 2905.

History note

War Artists Advisory Committee commission

Associated history pages

Associated people and organisations

Associated places

Associated events

Associated themes

Associated keywords

Comments (0)

Comments are the user's own and in no-way express the opinion of the IWM. Read our community policy for more details.

Add a comment

Add a comment

Please stay polite and on-topic: