Title - Embarking for the Western Front(1917)

Artist - Sir John Lavery

The present picture is the 'artist's version' of a subject painted while he was fulfilling his duties as an Official War Artist in 1917, a busy year in which he travelled to naval bases and airfields throughout England and Scotland. Having secured his vantage point, Lavery frequently executed two versions of the same scene - one of which - as in the present instance - was given to what became the Imperial War Museum. Embarking for the Western Front was possibly painted at Southampton and it is one of the most dramatic pictures in the series in that it shows a cargo ship, hastily requisitioned for military purpose and painted in 'dazzle' camouflage. Other artists may well have been deflected by the dramatic abstract pattern which could easily disrupt the continuity of the painting. Lavery, by contrast, reduces its impact and gives equal weight to the lines of bored soldiers who are filing aboard. This quayside compositional format was used on a number of occasions during Lavery's period as a war artist.