James Morris (1908–1989) was a British war artist during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Biography

5th Commando - Custom Inspection on the Anglo-chinese Frontier, Hong Kong, 1945 Art

Morris worked as a miner in South Wales until 1929, when he moved to London, where he worked as a designer throughout the 1930s, including a spell as an interior designer for

Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...

. At the start of World War Two, he worked in civil defence for a brief period before joining the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

as a signaller. Morris served on Arctic convoy ships, including one that was shelled by the ''Tirpitz''. He sold drawings and a sketchbook depicting his experiences in

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

and

Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...

to the War Artists' Advisory Committee, WAAC. In 1945, whilst still serving in the Navy, WAAC approved a full-time salaried contract for Morris, to record the work in the Far East of the British Pacific Fleet, alongside

Leonard Rosoman Leonard Rosoman (27 October 1913 – 21 February 2012) was a British artist. Early life Rosoman was born in London and educated at the Deacon's school, Peterborough, and then at the King Edward VII school of art in Newcastle upon Tyne, under ...

. He worked in

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

after liberation, in Hong Kong,

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, Tokyo and

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, making him the only full-time WAAC artist to reach China and Japan. He recorded naval scenes aboard and , cityscapes and war damage including works showing areas of Yokohama that had been extensively bombed. He recorded the interior of the imperial Diet in Tokyo and the post-war celebrations in Shanghai.

References

External links

1908 births 1989 deaths 20th-century Welsh painters 20th-century Welsh male artists British war artists Royal Navy personnel of World War II World War II artists Welsh male painters Civil Defence Service personnel Royal Navy sailors {{Wales-artist-stub