A British artist has produced his own unique commemoration for the centenary of Britain’s Great War.
Ghosts of Doomed Youth, an oil on canvas measuring 40 x 40 inches has been painted by Chairman of Suffolk Open Studios Thomas Lund-Lack as his own personal tribute to the First World War.
“I was inspired by my great uncle Julius McCollough Woods, who was a Territorial Army soldier, number 2182200465, of the 1st /5th (Rifle) Battalion, Kings (Liverpool regiment). He enlisted as a private on August 8, 1914 and served throughout the war from February 21, 1915 until he was demobbed in February 1919 with the rank of sergeant. My inspiration was the unique personal record of his experiences recorded in a detailed diary,” explains Thomas from Stowmarket.
“On his arrival in France in 1915 Jules’ unit was immediately in action taking part in a series of battles; Neuve Chapelle, Festubert, Loos and Hulluch. His battalion suffered severe casualties in the Somme battle and was in the front line during the last German assault on March 1918. Jules was injured several times and gassed, but survived the war and lived on until his death in 1965. He was responsible for editing his original diaries and they were published in book form for his decedents with 50 copies in existence, the original manuscript is in the Imperial War Museum, Belfast.
“The painting is the result of my daydreaming from which a very clear idea of what I wanted to portray emerged. It is intended to be a very thought provoking painting with elements of life and death in it without including any blood and gore. In the foreground are the soldiers going over the top of the trenches and as the viewer you see them from behind rather than head on. The further you look into the painting it fades away as if to suggest that they are moving towards their death and becoming ghosts. While this painting depicts the despair of the whole situation, highlighted by the lone soldier with his head in his hands (front right), the dark sky has glimmers of light and hope about it.
“I have acted on advice given by a retired Colonel and an artist friend regarding how the trees and the skyline should appear and I am very happy with the final result. After painting this I discovered that the 1st battalion the Suffolk Regiment was all but wiped out at Ypres in May 1915. Together with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and the remnants of a number of other units, they were at the apex of the British front line where it ran across the Bellewaerde ridge to Frezenberg. It was there that from May 6 to May 10 they bore the brunt of a determined German assault and after days of attack and counter attack only one officer and 29 men of the 400 or so who went into the line on April 17 returned from the fight. It was when I researched the Suffolk Regiment in one of my reference books and on reading about this and looking at the accompanying map of the landscape, I became aware that what I had painted was eerily similar,” he concludes.
The painting will be presented to the Mayor of Stowmarket on May 17, 2014 as part of the Stowmarket commemorations for the First World War. The Mayor in turn will present it to the President of the Suffolk branch of the Royal British Legion.
Exhibition diary:
May 4 (private view) to May 17, 2014
Matthew Alexander solo exhibition showing a range of British and European landscapes. Whittington Fine Art, 26 Hart Street, Henley-on-Thames, Oxford RG9 2AU.
www.whittingtonfineart.com
May 16 to May 20, 2014
Josie Eastwood Fine Art Spring Show. The Gallery, Lower Balldown, Sparsholt, Winchester, SO21 2LZ. Tel: 07866 639129.
May 25 (painting demonstration May 27) to June 21, 2014
The Wykeham Gallery exhibition of Karl Martens work, High Street, Stockbridge, Hampshire. SO20 6HE. Tel: 01264 810364. Web:
www.wykehamgallery.co.uk
