Friday 15 June 2018

Brothers Sydney and Richard Carline were employed as official war artists by the Imperial War Museum during the First World War, each tasked with documenting aerial warfare.

Between 1918 and 1920, the brothers produced dozens of artworks recording views over the Western Front, the Italian Front and the Middle East.

Here is a small selection of some of their incredible artwork.

Art

Lens, France

Art

Lens, France

An Impression of Lens, France, Seen from an Aeroplane, 1918, by Richard Carline.

See object record
An aerial view of the French city of Lens from a British plane. A British biplane is in flight on the left and there are traces of wispy cloud in the sky.
An Impression of Lens, France, Seen from an Aeroplane, 1918, by Richard Carline.
© IWM (Art.IWM ART 2661)
Art

The Asiago Plateau, Italy

Art

The Asiago Plateau, Italy

British Scouts leaving their Aerodrome on Patrol, over the Asiago Plateau, Italy, 1918, by Sydney Carline.

See object record
An aerial view of the Asiago Plateau with the Italian Alps in the upper background. Three aircraft, seen from above, circle in the upper left of the composition; there are small clouds on the right and lower centre. The view looks down onto an Italian village with a tall tower and a road running towards the centre of the image.
British Scouts leaving their Aerodrome on Patrol, over the Asiago Plateau, Italy, 1918, by Sydney Carline.
© IWM (Art.IWM ART 2679)
Art

Lebanon

Art

Lebanon

Mount Hermon and Mount Sannin above the Clouds, 1920, by Richard Carline.

See object record
A view along the length of the wing of a bi-plane over white fluffy clouds, with the tops of two mountains emerging from amongst the clouds in the distance.
Mount Hermon and Mount Sannin above the Clouds, 1920, by Richard Carline.
© IWM (Art.IWM ART 3081)
Art

The River Euphrates, Iraq

Art

The River Euphrates, Iraq

A British Pilot in a BE2C approaching Hit along the course of the River Euphrates, 1919, by Sydney Carline.

See object record
The back view of a pilot from the rear cockpit of a BE2C. The struts and wires of the wing structure surround the pilot, who wears helmet and goggles and is looking down and to his left, leaning slightly out of the cockpit. The River Euphrates runs below, winding across a flat plain. In the lower left there is a small puff of white smoke, and in the centre right a plume of black smoke can be seen through the wires of the wing. A pink haze of dust fills the horizon in the upper background.
A British Pilot in a BE2C approaching Hit along the course of the River Euphrates, 1919, by Sydney Carline.
© IWM (Art.IWM ART 4617)
Art

Ypres, Belgium

Art

Ypres, Belgium

Ypres Seen from an Aeroplane, 1918, by Richard Carline.

See object record
An aerial view of the heavily bomb-damaged town of Ypres, which is effectively just an outline shell of a town. Only a few shells of buildings still stand, the rest of the town centre having largely been cleared of buildings and rubble. The town is surrounded by fields and linked to villages by several roads.
Ypres Seen from an Aeroplane, 1918, by Richard Carline.
© IWM (Art.IWM ART 6342)
Art

The Sea of Galilee

Art

The Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee: Aeroplanes Attacking Turkish Boats, 1919, by Sydney Carline.

See object record
A high altitude aerial view of the Sea of Galilee. It is flanked by hills on the right-hand shore, the Jordan river lower left and a snow-capped Mount Hermon rising above the clouds in the upper right of the composition. Three aircraft fly towards the lake, where several dark shapes of Turkish motorboats setting off from the shore are visible.
The Sea of Galilee: Aeroplanes Attacking Turkish Boats, 1919, by Sydney Carline.
© IWM (Art.IWM ART 3080)
Art

Baghdad, Iraq

Art

Baghdad, Iraq

Baghdad, 1919, by Richard Carline.

See object record
An aerial view of Baghdad from an aircraft. The city lies on either side of the wide and meandering Tigris river, which has dark green fields at its banks. The surrounding land appears more arid.
Baghdad, 1919, by Richard Carline.
© IWM (Art.IWM ART 6348)
Art

The Iraqi Desert

Art

The Iraqi Desert

Flying Over the Desert at Sunset, Mesopotamia, 1919, by Sydney Carline.

See object record
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.
©IWM (Art.IWM ART 4623)
© IWM (Art.IWM ART 4623)

Related Content

Quick read 12 Paintings Of Life Along The Western Front 1. A Street in Arras A Street in Arras, 1918, by John Singer Sargent. A Street in Arras, 1918, by John Singer Sargent. Art.IWM ART 1607 A Street in Arras, 1918, by John Singer Sargent. Scottish infantrymen rest against the exterior wall of a shell-damaged building in Arras. 2. Oppy Wood Oppy Wood, 1917. Evening, 1918, by John Nash. Oppy Wood, 1917. Evening, 1918, by John Nash.
Western Front
12 Paintings Of Life Along The Western Front
British recruitment poster, 1914.
IWM PST 2734
First World War
11 Amazing First World War Recruitment Posters
A half length portrait of Eriksen, wearing uniform, a life jacket and dotted red cravat.
Second World War
This War Artist Drew Stunning Portraits Of RAF Pilots In The Second World War
Eric Kennington was one of a small number of artists to be employed as a British official war artist in both world wars. Kennington was employed by the War Artists Advisory Committee (WAAC), the body that oversaw the British official war art scheme, from December 1939 and produced over a hundred RAF portraits before resigning his commission in September 1942.