''A Balloon Site, Coventry'' is an

oil-on-canvas Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or copper for several centuries. ...

painting undertaken in 1942 by the British artist

Laura Knight Dame Laura Knight ( Johnson; 4 August 1877 – 7 July 1970) was an English artist who worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving and drypoint. Knight was a painter in the figurative, realist tradition, who embraced English Impressi ...

. It portrays a group of people—mostly women—working to launch a

barrage balloon A barrage balloon is a type of airborne barrage, a large uncrewed tethered balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe risk of collision with hostile aircraft, making the atta ...

on the outside of

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, an industrial city in the

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

that was the target of a German

bombing raid Strategic bombing is a systematically organized and executed military attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers, long- or medium-range missiles, or nuclear-armed fighter-bomber aircraft to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy' ...

in November 1940, when over 10,000

incendiary bombs Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires. They may destroy structures or sensitive equipment using fire, and sometimes operate as anti-personnel weaponry. Incendiarie ...

were dropped on the city. Knight had painted ''In for Repairs'', showing members of the

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the British Royal Air Force during the World War II, Second World War. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 181,000 at its peak ...

(WAAF) repairing a damaged barrage balloon, in early 1942. The

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

was so impressed that they asked her to paint the WAAF in action. She was commissioned 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 artis ...

(WAAC) and paid 100

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

for the work, which was undertaken in July and August 1942. ''A Balloon Site'' was displayed at the 1943

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, sc ...

, along with '' Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech-ring'' (1943).

Background

From March 1939, Coventry had been protected by

s; the city was an industrial target and contained aircraft factories on the outskirts. The balloons were filled with

hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...

and were either set in fixed sites, or adapted for mobile deployment. They were fixed by steel cables which forced bombers to fly at a higher altitude than they would have preferred. In this way the bombing was less accurate, and the aeroplanes more vulnerable to ground-based

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

fire. The protection was not infallible, and, on 14 November 1940 Coventry was the target of a German

when over 10,000

were dropped on the city. From April 1941 women were used to operate the balloons, a crew of fourteen women replacing the ten men that did so previously.

History

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the British government formed the

(WAAC) under the chairmanship of

Sir Kenneth Clark Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director and broadcaster. His expertise covered a wide range of artists and periods, but he is particularly associated with Italian Renaissa ...

, the director of 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 more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

. The committee was "to draw up a list of artists qualified to record the war at home and abroad". One of those commissioned on several occasions was the British painter

, who had painted for the Canadian government during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. By early 1942 she had painted four pictures for the WAAF; the most recent was ''In for Repairs'', showing members of the

(WAAF) repairing a damaged barrage balloon. The

was impressed with the picture and its potential to help with recruiting. The Ministry asked the WAAF if Knight could be commissioned again, and, in October 1941, she received a request from Mr Dickey, the Secretary of the WAAC, to paint members of the

based at RAF

Wythall Wythall is a large village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove District, in the northeastern corner of the county of Worcestershire, England. Wythall parish borders Solihull and Birmingham, and had a population of 12,269 in the UK census of 20 ...

—the regional headquarters of

RAF Balloon Command Balloon Command was the Royal Air Force Command (military formation), command which was responsible for controlling all the United Kingdom-based barrage balloon units during the Second World War. History Prior to the establishment of Balloon ...

—which was from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. She worked on the piece in July and August 1942, and was paid 100

for the work. ''A Balloon Site'' was displayed at the 1943

, as was '' Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech-ring'', a painting Knight had just completed. Both works were warmly received. As at , the painting is held by the

Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...

Painting

''A Balloon Site'' is an

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

on canvas measuring . It shows the launch of a barrage ballon on the outskirts of Coventry. In the middle distance are several damaged buildings, and the partial ruins of Coventry shown in the background. In the foreground two groups work on launching the balloon. The group in the foreground—composed of three women and a man—are under the leadership of Jean Brydon, a female sergeant. A second group are shown on the far side of the balloon. According to the art historians Teresa Grimes, Judith Collins and

Oriana Baddeley Oriana Baddeley is a professor of transnational art history at UAL where from 2011 to 2020 she was Dean of Research. She was born Lucy Oriana Halkett Baddeley in Singapore in 1954, the daughter of British diplomat John Halkett Baddeley (1920-19 ...

, ''A Balloon Site'' and ''In For Repairs'' "are about activity, the concentration and absorption in work generated by a group endeavour are central to their composition".

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

Books

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Journals and magazines

News

Websites

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balloon Site, Coventry, A 1942 paintings British women in World War II Paintings in the Imperial War Museum Cultural history of World War II Paintings by Laura Knight Paintings of women United Kingdom home front during World War II War paintings Women in the United Kingdom Cultural depictions of British people Balloons (aeronautics) Aviation art Oil on canvas paintings