War Artists

Artists officially commissioned to preserve wartime events in drawings, paintings etc. The work of war artists normally forms part of the tradition of historic and predominantly apologetic battle art; that is, their main function is to make heroes and documents. However, there are also, in the 19th and increasingly in the 20th centuries, examples expressing a critical interest, though almost all of these were by artists working on their own account. The work of war artists has been lit…