WW1 AISNE 1915 Brit inf. trapped in barbed wire -Mounted Print 10"X8" WOODVILLE

This offer comprises one mounted print sized 10"x8" (254mm x 203mm) to edge of mount.  The descriptions of equipment, persons, places, artists etc are made in good faith within my limited resources. Feel free to provide improvements to text. 

Print ref W155A2:  An action composition by renowned military artist RICHARD CATON-WOODVILLE . During the first Battle of the Aisne in September 1914, British infantry find themselves caught up in barbed wire entanglements and illuminated by searchlights and a vulnerable target for enemy fire. 

Carriage charges: UK first-class  £1.60 ; Europe airmail £3.16 ; USA, Canada,Far East, Australasia, South Africa etc airmail £4.42. Multiple purchases will be consolidated (where practical & cost-effective), reweighed & recalculated. Guaranteed well packed for transit.

The prints I produce are original documents almost 100 years old and taken from contemporary publications. Any imperfections therefore are due to this age and the limitations of the printing processes of the time - they have not been retouched. They are not scans or recent reproductions. The mounts are new and of good quality with mitred inner edges and stiff backing sheets. These mounted prints are ready to put into frames of your choice (please note: these are not framed prints -see photo). 

The year 2014 will mark the centenary year of the commencement of World War One in 1914, a cataclysmic event in which wholesale slaughter resulted in millions of deaths, many more physically and mentally wounded men & women and affected families in nearly every street for years to come. The conflict- 'the war to end all wars' -redefined the map of Europe but the founding of new ideological,political & racial factions led eventually to WW11. This indeed then is a fitting time to remember these men & women who fell, served or were just affected by these events. 

An excellent present and talking point for any living room, hotel lounge, bar, museum, hospital ward or military training establishment : and- what a challenging subject for the more experienced model-maker! I am always interested to hear of any personal connections to the people or events portrayed in these prints & modern views of historically depicted  places.

Notes on artists & photographers in WW1: Famous artists and photographers of the period produced prolific outputs of living art lapped up by newspapers and magazines for home consumption in keeping up morale and encouraging recruitment. Unlike today's technology,photographic journalism in WW1was limited to rear areas or heavily staged poses due to the slow and cumbersome equipment at the time and a more controlled attitude to the press at the front. Artists often had to rely on descriptions or rough sketches from those at the front. Although some work may be considered one-sided, overly sentimental or jingo-istic, this was the expected style of the time and what cannot be denied is the sheer talent of these artists and photographers. Artists noted  for their military artwork at this time included  Frank Dadd, Fortunino Matania, Smid, A. C. Michael, Christopher Clark, Vladimiroff, R. Caton Woodville, Harry Paine, J. Simont, Georges Scott and Ugo etc. Fortunino Matania is my particular favourite and he produced 100s of sketches of near photographic quality for the London Sphere in particular and later did works for Edgar Rice Burroughs which are very collectable. He is more fondly known to me as the wonderful illustrator of historical spreads in the 1960s educational weekly 'Look & Learn'. 

Recommended websites for further information include: greatwardifferent.com (esp. for info on art of WW1) ; the most excellent 'Wikipedia' ; the Long, Long Trail etc. Also recommended are the excellent 'Osprey' publications.