The attached magazine article from THE GREAT WAR ILLUSTRATED is an art review of the World War I paintings by C.R.W. Nevinson (1889 - 1946). Trained by the Italian Futurist Severini, Nevinson made some of the most modern images of all the World War One artists:
"When he wanted to paint portraits, as in 'A Group of Soldiers', Mr. Nevinson was perfectly equal to the task, but he would not flatter. He must tell the truth, and the great truth about the British soldier after 1915 was that he was simply the British working man in disguise. C.R.W. Nevinson with unerring eye penetrated to the man behind the khaki and deliberately unveiled the son of toil. The hands of the foremost figures may be exaggerated (but probably not), and in any case they emphasize the essential truth that these men belong to the horny-handed class. They may not be beautiful, but they are strong..."
"It should be recorded that C.R.W. Nevinson, though subsequently invalided on account of rheumatic fever, was one of the first British artists to go on active service in Flanders during the autumn of 1914."
Click here if you would like to read a 1922 article about C.R.W. Nevinson.
