WAR ARTISTS & BILL BRANDT

During the Second World War, the British government took a more structured approach to collecting official war art than it had during the First World War.

The Ministry of Information set up the War Artists' Scheme (W.A.S) in 1939. It was devised by Sir Kenneth Clark, the then Director of the National Gallery and the dominant figure of the British art world.

The Ministry's War Artists Advisory Committee (W.A.A.C) administered the scheme. Headed by Clark, its brief was 'to draw up a list of artists qualified to record the war at home and abroad, to advise on the selection of artists on this list for war purposes and on the arrangements for their employment'.

Before the end of 1939, the committee had a budget of £5,000. It had also assigned prominent artists to the Admiralty, the War Office and the Air Ministry. The Committee employed 30 full-time artists at any one time. Specific commissions were given to another 100 artists and the work of a further 200 artists was also bought. Other artists worked unofficially.

The Blitz was a source of inspiration for many artists. John Piper, Graham Sutherland, Henry Moore, Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer, Carel Weight, Evelyn Dunbar and Laura Knight were among artists commissioned to record the effects of the Blitz and the war effort on the home front.

BILL BRANDT

Brandt was a versatile photographer and worked within many different genres, one of those being photojournalism/documentary. some of the work he documented was "The English at Home" "A Day in the Life..." and "A Night in London."

During world war II he recorded the Blitz in london. below are some of his photographs.

Inside the basement of a shop in the West End, Bill Brandt photographed this woman receiving medical attention. The basement had become a makeshift shelter for people seeking cover from the Blitz. Many stores and businesses across London opened up their cellars and basements for the public to use. At least one trained nurse and sometimes doctors were installed at medical posts in the official London Underground public shelters. The local Air Raid Precautions warden also features in this photo. Each shelter also had a shelter warden.

Bill Brandt photographed this couple as they sheltered from the Blitz in a bookshop basement in Bloomsbury. Many stores and businesses across London opened up their cellars and basements to the public.

This wine merchant's cellar in the East End became a makeshift shelter for people during the Blitz. Many stores and businesses across London opened up their cellars and basements to the public. Bill Brandt took this photo of a group of orthodox Jews reading scripture together, as if in the synagogue or classroom.

Some of Brandts Landscape work from the Blitz has a strong Chiaroscuro affect using stark contrasts between light and dark.

above information taken from: http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/