Roger Bowdler explores Tate’s Armistice exhibition and discovers how the conflict acted as a catalyst for major changes in art and life
The First World War was a terrible conflict: brutal in its fighting, costly in lives and cruel in its lingering impact on survivors. Like no other war, it drew out a creative response that still gives it an immediacy and relevance 100 years on. Tate Britain is showing ‘Aftermath’ as its offering to the 1918 Armistice centenary. It looks at how art in Britain, France and Germany engaged with the physical and emotional effects of the devastation.
‘Aftermath’ begins powerfully, with a room devoted to the destruction of war, followed by a display on remembrance. One of the first exhibits is Wilhelm Lehmbruck’s poignant bronze sculpture The Fallen Man. Commissioned in 1915 as an early war memorial for his home town of Duisburg, it takes the form of an agonised naked figure crawling on all fours clutching a broken sword. Unsurprisingly, it was rejected. Lehmbruck subsequently served in a military hospital, suffered a breakdown and took his own life in 1919.
Another major German sculptural loan is the flying effigy by Ernst Barlach called The Floating One, from Güstrow Cathedral. Charles Sargeant Jagger’s timeless bronze Tommies from memorials at Paddington Station and Hyde Park Corner show how fine the sculpture of remembrance could be.
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin July 04, 2018 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin July 04, 2018 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery