Edgar Ainsworth (1905-1975) was a British artist, poster designer and magazine illustrator, who is known for the drawings he made at the

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concent ...

in the months following the camps' liberation by the British Army in 1945.

Biography

Ainsworth studied at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

in the late 1920s and exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

and the

New English Art Club The New English Art Club (NEAC) was founded in London in 1885 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. It continues to hold an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries in London, exhibiting works by both members and a ...

. In 1929 Ainsworth painted friezes at the

Imperial Institute The Commonwealth Education Trust is a registered charity established in 2007 as the successor trust to the Commonwealth Institute. The trust focuses on primary and secondary education and the training of teachers and invests on educational pro ...

building in London. Ainsworth designed posters for the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

and the

Empire Marketing Board The Empire Marketing Board was formed in May 1926 by the Colonial Secretary Leo Amery to promote intra-Empire trade and to persuade consumers to 'Buy Empire'. It was established as a substitute for tariff reform and protectionist legislation and ...

but was increasing drawn to journalism. He produced illustrated articles for the magazines ''

Leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

'' and ''

Liliput LiLiPUT, initially known as Kleenex, were a Swiss punk rock band formed in Zürich in 1978. The band experienced numerous line-up changes throughout their existence, with bassist Klaudia Schiff being the only constant member of the band over th ...

'' before joining ''

Picture Post ''Picture Post'' was a photojournalistic magazine published in the United Kingdom from 1938 to 1957. It is considered a pioneering example of photojournalism and was an immediate success, selling 1,700,000 copies a week after only two months. ...

''. In due course, Ainswoth was appointed to the post of Art Editor for ''Picture Post''. A French Prisoner-of-War (Art

During World War Two, Ainsworth continued to work for ''Picture Post'' and also served as a war correspondent and accompanied the American 7th Army on their advance across Europe in 1945. Ainsworth visited the

three times after the British army entered the complex in April 1945. He made numerous sketches and drawings, often in great detail, while at the camp. In September 1945, Picture Post published several of these drawings along with an article, ''Victim and Prisoner'', by Ainsworth. In the article, Ainsworth attempted to challenge what he saw as the elements of indifference he had encountered in Britain to the Belsen trial, which had started that month. Several of the drawings made by Ainsworth in Belsen were purchased by the

War Artists' Advisory Committee The War Artists Advisory Committee (WAAC), was a British government agency established within the Ministry of Information at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and headed by Sir Kenneth Clark. Its aim was to compile a comprehensive artist ...

and are now held by the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

. Ainsworth also commissioned the author and artist

Mervyn Peake Mervyn Laurence Peake (9 July 1911 – 17 November 1968) was an English writer, artist, poet, and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the '' Gormenghast'' books. The four works were part of what Peake conceived ...

to visit Belsen for ''Picture Post''. After the War, Ainsworth spent time in the Middle East and, during 1948, reported on the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

in the then

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

for ''Picture Post''. Several of these pictures were also included in the 1949 exhibition ''Six Artists Abroad'', promoted by the Association of Industrial Artists. In 1957 he provided the illustrations for

John Pudney John Sleigh Pudney (19 January 1909 – 10 November 1977) was a British poet, journalist and author. He was known especially for his popular poetry written during the Second World War, but he also wrote novels, short stories and children's fict ...

's book ''The Book of Leisure''. During the remainder of his life, Ainsworth continued to exhibit at the New English Art Club and also at the

Manchester City Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupies three c ...

and the Monks Hall Museum in Salford. Ainsworth's death was registered at

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

References

External links

*
Works by Ainsworth in the Imperial War Museum collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ainsworth, Edgar 1905 births 1975 deaths 20th-century English painters Alumni of the Royal College of Art British war artists English male painters War correspondents of World War II World War II artists 20th-century English male artists