The Hall of Remembrance was a series of paintings and sculptures commissioned, in 1918, by the

British War Memorials Committee The British War Memorials Committee was a British Government body that throughout 1918 was responsible for the commissioning of artworks to create a memorial to the First World War. The Committee was formed in February 1918 when the Department of In ...

of the British Ministry of Information in commemoration of the dead of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

History

The artworks commissioned for the Hall of Remembrance were to be devoted to 'fighting subjects, home subjects and the war at sea and in the air' and were to be displayed in a specially built structure. The building was to be designed to accommodate a series of paintings based upon the dimensions of the large triptych, ''

The Battle of San Romano ''The Battle of San Romano'' is a set of three paintings by the Florentine painter Paolo Uccello depicting events that took place at the Battle of San Romano between Florentine and Sienese forces in 1432. They are significant as revealing the ...

'' by

Paolo Uccello Paolo Uccello ( , ; 1397 – 10 December 1475), born Paolo di Dono, was an Italians, Italian (Florentine) Florentine painting, painter and mathematician who was notable for his pioneering work on visual Perspective (graphical), perspective in art. ...

, one part of which is now in the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

. The scheme was initiated by

Lord Beaverbrook William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), generally known as Lord Beaverbrook, was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics o ...

, the then Minister of Information and echoed the scale of a war art programme he had launched for the government of Canada. Although the architect

Charles Holden Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

completed a design for the building, the plan was abandoned and those artworks that had been completed, along with works donated by

Muirhead Bone Sir Muirhead Bone (23 March 1876 – 21 October 1953) was a Scottish etcher and watercolourist who became known for his depiction of industrial and architectural subjects and his work as a war artist in both the First and Second World Wars. A fi ...

William Orpen Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, (27 November 1878 – 29 September 1931) was an Irish artist who worked mainly in London. Orpen was a fine draughtsman and a popular, commercially successful painter of portraits for the well-to-do in ...

and Sir

John Lavery Sir John Lavery (20 March 1856 – 10 January 1941) was a Northern Irish painter best known for his portraits and wartime depictions. Life and career John Lavery was born in inner North Belfast, baptised at St Patrick's Church, Belfast a ...

were incorporated into the art collection that was part of the establishment of 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 ...

. Although Holden's plans for the building have been lost, Muirhead Bone described the structure as a "kind of Pavilion", surrounded by a garden, with a main gallery leading to an oratory with a dedication to the "coming Brotherhood of Man for which we all pray." The centre piece of the Hall were to be four 'super-pictures', each 20 feet long by 7 feet high and each on the theme of cooperation between Britain and its various allies.

was offered the commission for the Britain and its Italian allies picture but refused, as he did not want to leave the Western Front for a trip to Italy.

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...

accepted the commission to produce the Anglo-French super-picture but the painting, ''Junction of Our Lines with the French'' never materialised.

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...

was tasked with depicting Anglo-American cooperation but failed to find an appropriate scene whilst visiting the Somme and instead presented the picture known as '' Gassed''. The fourth super-picture, of troops from the Empire, was never commissioned.

Artworks

The paintings commissioned and completed for the Hall of Remembrance include: * '' Gassed'' by

, * ''Travoys Arriving with Wounded at a Dressing Station at Smol, Macedonia, September 1916'' by

Stanley Spencer Sir Stanley Spencer, CBE RA (30 June 1891 – 14 December 1959) was an English painter. Shortly after leaving the Slade School of Art, Spencer became well known for his paintings depicting Biblical scenes occurring as if in Cookham, the small ...

, * ''An Advanced Dressing Station in France, 1918'' by

Henry Tonks Henry Tonks, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, FRCS (9 April 1862 – 8 January 1937) was a British surgeon and later draughtsman and painter of figure subjects, chiefly interiors, and a Caricature, caricaturist. He became an influentia ...

* ''Irish Troops in the Judaen Hills Surprised by a Turkish Bombardment'' by

Henry Lamb Henry Taylor Lamb (21 June 1883 – 8 October 1960) was an Australian-born British painter. A follower of Augustus John, Lamb was a founder member of the Camden Town Group in 1911 and of the London Group in 1913. Early life Henry Lamb was bo ...

* ''

The Menin Road ''The Menin Road'' is a large oil painting by Paul Nash completed in 1919 that depicts a First World War battlefield. Nash was commissioned by the British War Memorials Committee to paint a battlefield scene for the proposed national Hall of Re ...

'' by Paul Nash * ''Landing Survivors from a Torpedoed Ship'' by

Walter Bayes Walter John Bayes (31 May 1869 – 21 January 1956) was an English painter and illustrator who was a founder member of both the Camden Town Group and the London Group and also a renowned art teacher and critic. Biography Early life Bayes was bo ...

* ''Oppy Wood, 1917. Evening'' by John Nash * ''

A Battery Shelled ''A Battery Shelled'' is a 1919 painting by the English artist Wyndham Lewis. It depicts a scene from the Western Front of World War I. It was commissioned for the proposed Hall of Remembrance. Description A number of men are seen working and m ...

'' by

Percy Wyndham Lewis Percy Wyndham Lewis (18 November 1882 – 7 March 1957) was a British writer, painter and critic. He was a co-founder of the Vorticist movement in art and edited ''BLAST (magazine), BLAST,'' the literary magazine of the Vorticists. His novels ...

* ''The Royal Field Artillery in Macedonia, Spring 1918'' by

Darsie Japp Darsie Napier Japp MC (17 February 1883 – 1973) was an English painter and soldier. Japp was born in Liverpool and attended St John's College of the University of Oxford. After he graduated, he worked in the offices of his father's shipping ...

* ''Heavy Artillery'' by

Colin Gill Colin Unwin Gill (12 May 1892 – 16 November 1940) was an English artist who painted murals and portraits and is most notable for the work he produced as a war artist during the First World War. Biography Early life Colin Gill was born at ...

. * ''In the Gun Factory at Woolwich Arsenal'' by

George Clausen Sir George Clausen (18 April 1852 – 22 November 1944) was a British artist working in oil and watercolour, etching, mezzotint, dry point and occasionally lithographs. He was knighted in 1927. Biography George Clausen was born at 8 William S ...

* ''The Harvest of Battle'' by

C R W Nevinson Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson (13 August 1889 – 7 October 1946) was an English figure and landscape painter, etcher and lithographer, who was one of the most famous war artists of World War I. He is often referred to by his initial ...

* ''The Old German Front Line, Arras, 1916'' by

Charles Sims Charles Sims may refer to: * Charles Sims (painter) (1873–1928), British painter * Charles Sims (mathematician) (1938–2017), American mathematician * Charles Sims (aviator) (1899–1929), British World War I flying ace * Charles Sims (American ...

. * ''Divers at Work Repairing a Torpedoed Ship'' by

John Laviers Wheatley John Laviers Wheatley (23 January 1892 – 17 November 1955) was a British painter, art teacher and museum director who also served as a war artist in both World War I and in World War II. Biography Wheatley was born in Abergavenny in Wale ...

* ''The Battlefields of Ypres—After'' by

David Young Cameron Sir David Young Cameron (28 June 1865 – 16 September 1945) was a Scottish painter and, with greater success, etcher, mostly of townscapes and landscapes in both cases. He was a leading figure in the final decades of the Etching Reviv ...

* ''A Two Year-old Steel Works, 1918: erected during the War for Messer. Steel, Peech and Tozer Ltd., Phoenix Works, Rotherham'' by Charles John Holmes * ''Erecting a Camouflage Tree'' by

Leon Underwood George Claude Leon Underwood (25 December 1890 – 9 October 1975) was a British artist, although primarily known as a sculptor, printmaker and painter, he was also an influential teacher and promotor of African art. His travels in Mexico a ...

* ''A German Attack on a Wet Morning, April 1918'' (1918) by Harold Sandys Williamson
File:Sargent, John Singer (RA) - Gassed - Google Art Project.jpg, '' Gassed'' by

File:Irish Troops in the Judaean Hills Surprised by a Turkish Bombardment, 1919 Art.IWMART2746.jpg, ''Irish Troops in the Judaean Hills Surprised by a Turkish Bombardment'' by

File:The Menin Road.jpg, ''

'' by Paul Nash File:Landing Survivors from a Torpedoed Ship Art.IWMART1234.jpg, ''Landing Survivors from a Torpedoed Ship'' 1918 by

File:Nash, John (RA) - Oppy Wood, 1917. Evening - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Oppy Wood, 1917. Evening'' by John Nash File:Lewis, Percy Wyndham - A Battery Shelled - Google Art Project.jpg, ''

'' by

Wyndham Lewis Percy Wyndham Lewis (18 November 1882 – 7 March 1957) was a British writer, painter and critic. He was a co-founder of the Vorticist movement in art and edited ''BLAST,'' the literary magazine of the Vorticists. His novels include ''Tarr'' ( ...

File:The Royal Field Artillery in Macedonia, Spring 1918 by Darsie Japp.jpg, ''The Royal Field Artillery in Macedonia, Spring 1918'' by

File:Heavy Artillery Art.IWMART2274.jpg, ''Heavy Artillery'' by

File:In the Gun Factory at Woolwich Arsenal, 1918 Art.IWMART1984.jpg, ''In the Gun Factory at Woolwich Arsenal'' by

File:The Harvest of Battle Art.IWMART1921.jpg, ''The Harvest of Battle'' by

File:The Old German Front Line, Arras, 1916 Art.IWMART2282.jpg, ''The Old German Front Line, Arras, 1916'' by

File:Divers at Work Repairing a Torpedoed Ship (Art.IWM ART 2245).jpg, ''Divers at Work Repairing a Torpedoed Ship'' by

File:David Young Cameron - Battlefields of Ypres (CWM 19710261-0118).jpg, ''The Battlefields of Ypres—After'' by

File:A Two Year-old Steel Works, 1918 - erected during the War for Messrs. Steel, Peech and Tozer, Ltd., Phoenix Works, sheffield Art.IWMART1216.jpg, ''A Two Year-old Steel Works, 1918'' by Charles John Holmes File:A 'camouflage tree' was an observation post made from a hollow metal cylinder, camouflaged as a dead tree. Art.IWMART2283.jpg, ''Erecting a Camouflage Tree'' (1919) by

File:A German Attack on a Wet Morning, April 1918 Art.IWMART1986.jpg, ''A German Attack on a Wet Morning, April 1918'' (1918) Harold Sandys Williamson:

References

{{Authority control Collections of museums in the United Kingdom Imperial War Museum United Kingdom in World War I War art