- Art
-
Age 9-11 (KS2)Age 11-14 (KS3)
Did you know that artists play an essential role in war efforts?
Join IWM experts Becky and Paris as they share real life stories of artists, and the invaluable role they played during the Second World War. War artists didn’t just paint scenes on the battlefield, they also captured everyday life and showed how ordinary people’s lives were shaped by war.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to be the first to see more of our Adventures in History films.
Painting Life
Painting Life
Curriculum Links and Learning Objectives
-
KS3/4 - Challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day.
-
GCSE - Warfare and British society c1250–present and London and the Second World War, 1939–45.
-
To explore the role of war artists and explore how paintings can be sources that help us understand the past.
Try our Art Quiz!

Try our Art Quiz!
Take a close look at some special artworks and explore some of the amazing details they contain.
Artist Reporters
Artist Reporters
It’s time to dust off those paint brushes, pencils and crayons and get creative!
Inspired by the British war artists from the First and Second World Wars whose job it was to record the many different aspects of war; from queuing up at the shops to fighter planes in the skies over London. Your mission is to pick up a pencil, crayon or paintbrush and create a picture of life at home.
Watch mission briefing >