''Take Off'' is an oil on canvas painting by English artist Laura Knight, created in 1943. It is one of the several works that she made when she was one of the British official war artists during

World War II 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 ...

. It is held at 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 ...

, in London.

Description

The painting depicts the interior of a British

Short Stirling The Short Stirling was a British four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber to be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Stirling was designed during t ...

bomber of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. Inside the plane there are four of the seven crew members, who are preparing for take off before another night raid on

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

during

. Two pilots sit in the cockpit, while a navigator studies his maps, and in the foreground a flight sergeant turns a knob on the wireless device. The painter, Laura Knight, developed a long and accurate investigation in order to create this work: she later stated that this painting had been the most difficult task she had done so far in the war. She worked in the RAF Mildenhall and lived in the

WAAF WAAF may refer to: * w3af, (short for web application attack and audit framework), an open-source web application security scanner * Women's Auxiliary Air Force, a British military service in World War II ** Waaf, a member of the service * WAAF (AM ...

Officers' Mess for several months while working on the painting. She was also given an obsolete Stirling for preparation. The final result of the work is flawless, because it depicts in a very faithful and detailed manner the moment of preparation for the take-off of the British crew, which is concentrating in their next mission. The realism of the painting gives it a very photographic feeling. The navigator of the scene, Raymond Frankish Escreet, would be killed in action and his mother received a reproduction of this picture as a memento.Rosie Broadley, ''Laura Knight Portraits. National Portrait Gallery'', London, 2013, ISBN 978-1-85514-463-7

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Take Off (painting) 1943 paintings Paintings by Laura Knight Paintings in the collection of the Imperial War Museum Cultural history of World War II United Kingdom home front during World War II War paintings Aviation art