 | | Eric Ravilious, The Teleprinter Room Watercolour, 1941. © IWM_ART_LD_001192_A |
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| Eric Ravilious was chosen as one of the first official War Artists for the Second World War by the War Artists Advisory Committee (WAAC) in December 1939.
Born in Acton in 1903, Ravilious spent his childhood in Eastbourne in East Sussex. In 1919, he was awarded a scholarship to attend the Eastbourne School of Art.
Three years later, he enrolled at the Royal College of Art in London. There, he studied under Paul Nash, a War Artist during the First World War and later in the Second World War.
In the years that followed, Ravilious established his reputation as an artist. He was a book illustrator, wood engraver, a painter of watercolours and murals, and a pottery designer for Wedgwood.
When war broke out in 1939, he immediately signed up for the Royal Observer Corps based near his home in Essex.
But his talent and skills as an artist were needed by the WAAC and he began his appointment as an official War Artist in 1940. |
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| IWM DUXFORD EXPERIENCES | Fancy a trip outside of London? IWM Duxford is a great choice.
Enhance your visit with one of our experiences. Sit in a Spitfire or get behind the controls of an Avro Vulcan.
Are you a budding photographer? Take part in one of our photography evenings on Duxford's historic airfield or in our hall of tanks. | |
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| Prompted by the then Director of the National Gallery, Sir Kenneth Clark, the WAAC was established by the Ministry of Information. The Committee met at the National Gallery once a month. They commissioned artists to record the events of the Second World War.
Officially at least, the purpose of the Committee was propaganda. They organised art exhibitions in Britain and America both to raise morale and promote Britain's image abroad.
But the WAAC had another aim. Clark's generation had been marked by the deaths of many artists and writers in the First World War. It was also hoped that by keeping artists usefully employed, the scheme might prevent a new generation of British artists from losing their lives.
Between 1940 and 1942, Ravilious produced spectacular watercolours, lithographs and drawings featuring ships, aircraft and coastal defences. Fifty of these works are now in IWM’s collection.
Yet, despite the WAAC’s secret aim, Ravilious was one of three War Artists who were killed in action during the Second World War, along with Thomas Hennell and Albert Richards.
Today, Ravilious is remembered at the Chatham Naval Memorial, just over a mile away from the dockyard where he was first posted as a War Artist.
His artwork The Teleprinter Room Watercolour (1941), part of his series of watercolours capturing the Ministry of Home Security, is currently on display at Churchill War Rooms, as part of Wartime London: Art of the Blitz.
Click here to book your visit to Churchill War Rooms. |
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| DISCOVER MORE ARTWORKS AND ARTISTS FROM THE EXHIBITION | |
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LEILA FAITHFUL
VE DAY CELEBRATIONS | | Take a closer look at war artist Leila Faithfull's VE Day celebrations triptych from 1945 in this video with IWM's Head of Research Suzanne Bardgett. | |
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MABEL HUTCHINSON
A BERMONDSEY REST CENTRE | Watch our video to discover the story behind Mabel Hutchinson's artwork.
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| CHURCHILL T-SHIRT | "This is the room from which I will direct the war"
Made from 100% cotton, this black tee features the famous quote from Winston Churchill when he entered the Cabinet War Rooms as Prime Minister. | |
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