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Topolski was working as honorary official artist to the Polish forces in Britain before he did any work for the WAAC. He also obtained permits and passes from the War Office and the Admiralty as well as from the Ministry of Information.
Four of his pictures were purchased in August 1940, from a selection submitted, for 15 guineas (8ff, titles at 15ff) (IWM ART LD 323, 325; LD 324, 326), and, in the same month, two further works (19), (IWM:ART LD 498-9) for 5 guineas each.
Meanwhile, other correspondence continued on subjects including a request from the Polish Government to borrow certain works on Polish subjects for an exhibition in New York (24); attempts to get a tin hat for Topolski for his work on air raid drawings; and an invitation to Kenneth Clark to write an article about Topolski for Picture Post (31).
In November 1940, Topolski was officially commissioned to make the air raid drawings to the value of 50 guineas (33), in respect of which he submitted LD 670-680. Drawings from Topolski's stay in Plymouth were purchased in December 1940 for 37 guineas (LD 719-724), and a further two drawings purchased in March 1941 (44) (LD 881-2).
However in May 1941 Topolski was wounded whilst on war artist duty. He informed the committee of this one of the postcards produced by the MoI and the National Gallery (qv) featuring his ‘Piccadilly Circus, November 1940' (49).
That same year, Topolski was sent to the Middle East by the Illustrated London News (51ff) and in his absence his affairs were managed by Mariane Everall. Acquisitions included LD 1312-3, 1316 in August 1941, for 10 guineas each (54). Meanwhile, there were problems over the transport of some of his pictures to New York for a Knoedler's exhibition.
In January 1942, a number of Topolski's works from his time in Moscow were acquired (LD 1774-9) (72). There is then correspondence regarding attempts to secure permission for Topolski to sketch whilst visiting the Republic of Ireland (89ff), including a letter to John Betjeman; the loan of pictures to the Polish Relief Fund (89ff) and to an exhibition in Portugal (102ff), 1942-3.
LD 2425-2428 were purchased in September 1942 (94ff). Further pictures were submitted but declined by the committee in April 1943, due to their subject matter being not relevant or already covered (106), which elicited a vehement response from Topolski about their "artistic and documentary merits" (107).
A parcel of preparatory drawings was sent back via the MoI, from the Middle East, in June 1944, covering subjects in India, Egypt, China and Burma (113). He later offered some of these to the Committee but they declined.
The final papers on the file concern the acquisition of IWM:ART LD 5866, which was offered to the IWM via the Leicester Galleries and for which the Museum was allowed to pay a greatly reduced price of 25 guineas.
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