Listening to Andrew Marr (one of my heroes) whilst doing the housework this morning (Monday = kitchen and breakfast room) - one of his guests was Pat Barker, also from Tees-side and born in 1943 (a good vintage). She was talking about official war artists. That got me thinking (rare policy). So many writers have stated that FB was an official war artist as if it were a badge of honour. But FB wasn't.
a) he was not a propagandist
b) he would not have prostituted his art for filthy lucre, and a cause he did not believe in (or in which he did not believe)
c) he wouldn't have towed the party line, far too individual and stubborn for that!
He did, however, produce over 80 designs for posters during WW1 - but the majority of these were given freely to charitable organisations..
No comments:
Post a Comment