Canadian war art on tour

The Canadian War Museum of Ottawa’s travelling exhibition, “Battle lines: Canadian artists in the field, 1917-19” has opened at Canada House in London (until 6 July) and will go on to Australia (Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 14 December-4 March 2002) before returning home. The exhibition consists of 50 oil sketches documenting the life experienced by Canadian troops in World War I. The works are by some of the 115 official Canadian war artists who were hired by the Canadian War Memorials Fund, a body founded by the expatriate newspaper magnate, Lord Beaverbrook. Stark and terrible war-torn landscapes, burned-out churches, skies aflame and sombre encampments evoke the nightmare that marked the beginning of the end of the empire for which the brave Canadians fought.