Battle of Britain

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Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.

Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.

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Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.

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Use this image under Non-Commercial licence.

You can embed media or download low resolution images free of charge for private and non-commercial use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence.

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Accepted Non-commercial Use

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Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.

Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.

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Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.

Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.

Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

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Use this image under Non-Commercial licence.

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By downloading 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 1550

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:

Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.

Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.

Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.

Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.

Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.

Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Media Sales & Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.
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description

Object description

image: An abstracted aerial view of a wide flat landscape including the mouth of a river. Above the sky is full of contrails, and to the upper right aircraft can be seen flying in formation.

Physical description

Image. An abstracted aerial view of a wide flat landscape including the mouth of a river. Above the sky is full of contrails, and to the upper right aircraft can be seen flying in formation. It is an oil paint on canvas. The frame is made of wood and it is glazed. There is a hardboard backboard as well.

Label

Paul Nash's description of the painting, written for the War Artist's Advisory Committee: 'The painting is an attempt to give the sense of an aerial battle in operation over a wide area and thus summarises England's great aerial victory over Germany. The scene includes certain elements constant during the Battle of Britain - the river winding from the town and across parched country, down to the sea; beyond, the shores of the Continent, above, the mounting cumulus concentrating at sunset after a hot brilliant day; across the spaces of sky, trails of airplanes, smoke tracks of dead or damaged machines falling, floating clouds, parachutes, balloons. Against the approaching twilight new formations of Luftwaffe, threatening...' The painting majestically reveals the possibilities of art engaged with history. Its ambition and the scale of the setting immediately impress; we look down on a huge swathe of the English Channel and France beyond. Produced at the time of the battle, the painting encapsulates its scale and importance. However, this is not just an image of modern warfare, with its violence and destruction, or even an iconic victory; it is also a restatement of the value of art and the defeat of Nazism. Nash, a fierce critic of the way that fighting on the Western Front of the First World War had been conducted, was immediate and steadfast in his revulsion towards Nazi Germany and its culture. In the painting, defences rise up as if out of the very landscape of England to meet the fascistic machines of war; the regimented patterns of the Luftwaffe are broken and defeated by Allied fighter planes, they form great flower-like shapes in the sky, before plummeting into the very earth that has defeated them. Richard Seddon, pupil of Nash, viewed this work at Nash's Oxford studio. He advised Nash to include more black smoke trails and painted an example on the canvas. When the painting was exhibited in London, Seddon's black trail was still visible on the canvas. Margaret Nash presented Seddon with a 19th-century lithograph of a storm in Paris which Nash adapted to form the composition of the Battle of Britain. Nash delivered the work to the Committee in October and it went on display at the National Gallery in January 1942.

Label

The painting is an attempt to give the sense of an aerial battle in operation over a wide area and thus summarises England's great aerial victory over Germany. The scene includes certain elements constant during the Battle of Britain - the river winding from the town and across parched country, down to the sea; beyond, the shores of the Continent, above, the mounting cumulus concentrating at sunset after a hot brilliant day; across the spaces of sky, trails of airplanes, smoke tracks of dead or damaged machines falling, floating clouds, parachutes, balloons. Against the approaching twilight new formations of Luftwaffe, threatening.

Label

Paul Nash was one of Britain's best-known artists at the time of the Second World War. As a former official war artist he was a logical choice to fulfill the role again, particularly as a patriot who believed in utilising fine art for propaganda. Battle of Britain demonstrates this aspect of Nash's outlook. It presents an epitome of RAF Fighter Command's successful struggle against the Luftwaffe in 1940. RAF fighters sweep along the English Channel to break up advancing Luftwaffe formations in a summer sky filled with vapour trails, parachutes, balloons and cloud. The painting is an imaginative summary of the event rather than a literal one; Nash favours symbolism and allegory over factual accuracy. The barrage balloons and aircraft seen from above are not in proportion to the shadowy suggestions of vulnerable cities below. Geographically the painting suggests the Thames estuary, with the Channel and France beyond, but again the emphasis is on imaginative visualisation.

History note

War Artists Advisory Committee Commission

Inscription

Paul Nash

Object details

Category

Art

Creator

NASH, PAUL

Production date

1941

Place made

Great Britain

Materials

Frame: wood

Frame: hardboard

Glazing: glass

Support: canvas

medium: oil

Dimensions

Frame: Depth (maximum) 115, Depth 101 mm, Height 1480 mm, Width 2060 mm

Support: Height 1226 mm, Width 1835 mm

Catalogue number

Art.IWM ART LD 1550

Object associations

Related objects

Art

Battle of Britain

description

Object description

Physical description

Label

Label

Label

History note

Inscription

Object details

Object associations

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Use this image under Non-Commercial licence.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Embed

Use this image under Non-Commercial licence.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Embed

Use this image under Non-Commercial licence.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Embed

Use this image under Non-Commercial licence.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Embed

Object details

Object associations

Related objects

Battle of Britain : parachutists from an enemy aircraft brought down in an apparent attempt to bomb Buckingham Palace

Portrait of Maurice Lishman, RAF Flying Officer Shot Down in the Battle of Britain, Aged 21

War-time traffic on the river Thames: River Police at Waterloo Bridge during the Battle of Britain

Related content

Meet The Squander Bug

Tips For American Servicemen In Britain During The Second World War

What Happened To RAF 617 Squadron After The Dambusters Raid