National Army Museum announces major new display: ‘Myth and Reality: Military Art in the Age of Queen Victoria’ | Lesotho London
Close Menu
Thursday, January 22
Lifestyle Press Release

National Army Museum announces major new display: ‘Myth and Reality: Military Art in the Age of Queen Victoria’

Lucy ContrinoBy 2 Mins Read

 

Featuring over 140 paintings, sketches and miniatures, ‘Myth and Reality’ charts the changing nature of war art from propaganda, news reporting and mass production.Showcasing female figures from the period, works such as ‘The Dawn of Waterloo’ by Lady Butler will be shown alongside works on loan and her rarely seen sketchbooks.Five-metre-wide oil on canvas ‘The Capitulation of Kars’ by Thomas Barker Jones on display for the first time in 20 years.The museum’s first dedicated art exhibition in over five years.
‘Dawn of Waterloo’, Painted by Lady Butler. Oil on canvas. Purchased with assistance from The Art Fund. Courtesy: National Army Museum
The National Army Museum is delighted to announce ‘Myth and Reality: Military Art in the Age of Queen Victoria’, a new long-term exhibition featuring over 140 works of art charting the changing attitudes to the military during the 19th century.

Featuring some of the most celebrated artists of the era, this display is the first dedicated art exhibition at the Museum in over five years.

The exhibition will showcase the Museum’s extensive art collection to explore the relationship between Victorian military art and the real experiences of soldiers on the frontline.

 During Queen Victoria’s reign, artists influenced the way British people thought about the Army and its soldiers more than ever before. Throughout the exhibition there are works of art by soldiers documenting their service abroad.

War artists and reporters were also eyewitnesses to military campaigns across the world and exhibitions were attended by huge crowds. Reproductions and affordable prints decorated homes across the country, shaping attitudes to the Army’s role in a changing world. 

Taking four overarching themes — The Female Perspective, The Great Campaigns, Patriotism and Portraiture, and Realism and Reportage — highlights include the significant collection of 25 works by Elizabeth Thompson, Lady Butler, who rocketed to fame in the 19th Century for her depictions of Waterloo and Crimea, as well as significant loans from the Royal Collection and National Portrait Gallery.

Share.

Related Posts