Art and War

artist in front of his painting alleged assault on pax by mars
detail from Alleged Assault on Pax by Mars

The Disaster of War.

Art and war – can art make a difference?
Aside from my portrait practice,  war and conflict has been the subject of much of my recent artwork. The unchecked march of ISIS across Iraq and Syria in 2014 first prompted me to address this subject. The current preparations for the impending war against China reinforced my interest. The political climate that was feeding this frenzy was the inspiration behind my painting “Alleged Assault on Pax by Mars” (shown above).
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine I felt compelled to work full time on “Men Wrestling” and “The Disasters of War”.  Even though I was neglecting more commercial work, I felt it was so very important to make a statement with these paintings. Now I am wondering if it was worth it.

detail from painting men wrestling, with two naked wrestlers clinched in combat
detail from Men Wrestling

What was the point?

The Israel-Hamas war has left me feeling empty. Its brutality has shocked me, and I have been appalled by people’s reactions to it. I have no desire to pick up my paintbrushes and say anything about this war. Other than it disgusts me. I am disappointed in humanity. It seems we are no more than beasts.
So in this dark mood I heard an interview with legendary war photographer Don McCullin, where he spoke about how depressed he was with the present conflict.

‘I am slightly depressed in a way, because I think everything I’ve done concerning international conflict, everything I have contributed to showing how awful it is, I think has been a waste of time really.’

‘I’ve looked at so many wars, I’ve been in so many wars, and nothing has changed.’

The BBC interview: Acclaimed war photographer: ‘I don’t believe I ever made difference’

bombardment by philip guston
Bombardment, 1937, by Philip Guston. A reaction to the bombing of Guernica

He summed up exactly how I was thinking, and got me wondering if art really can make a difference. I’ve started looking out for paintings about war in my gallery visits. At the recent Philip Guston exhibition at the Tate I saw his painting Bombardment (photo above). It’s a reaction to the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. I hadn’t realised that many artists responded to this event. I was only familiar with Picasso’s masterpiece. Clearly none of them made any difference at the time. Instead of significantly influencing public opinion, they instead became just another record of the atrocity.

Producing my anti-war paintings may be no more than a cathartic experience. If that is the case, what really is the point in painting them?
I suppose it’s a bit like joining a protest march. Each little voice might not make much difference, but it helps make that call for change a little louder.


You can see and read about my paintings about the Ukraine War in the posts below:
An awkward conversation about my Ukraine War painting
The Disasters of War

The Disasters of War – a painting

painting about ukraine war, with viewer discretion advised

A reaction to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

I’ve been reluctant to write about this painting, for fear of how it will be viewed by potential portrait customers. I haven’t even offered it to any exhibitions. But as you read this, millions of lives have been ruined or lost by a pointless conflict, so who am I to fret over losing a few commissions. So here we go.
After finishing my painting Men Wrestling, I still felt compelled to say something about the barbarity and viscousness of events unfolding in Ukraine. It’s too easy to feel detached from it all, viewing it as a spectacle rather than the existential crisis it is. That was exactly what I wanted to convey with Men Wrestling – world leaders looking on as the two naked wrestlers (representing Russia and Ukraine) are embraced in a fight to the death.  For my next painting I wanted to show the cruel horror of it all.

goya disasters of war Plate 39: Grande hazaña! Con muertos! (A heroic feat! With dead men!).
Goya – A heroic feat! With dead men!

Goya – The Disasters of War

Los desastres de la guerra is a series of 82 prints created between 1810-1820 by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya (1746–1828). These etchings are viewed as a visual protest against the violence of the 1808 Dos de Mayo Uprising, and the subsequent Peninsular War of 1808–1814. They were not published during the artist’s lifetime; they are considered a graphic representation of the atrocities of war. As such, they were the perfect source material and inspiration for the painting I wanted to create.

Composing the painting

Creating a painting like this is a bit like directing a play. You have your story and actors, and much of the time you are arranging them on the stage to describe a particular scene.
Below is a video (apologies for the very bad exposure) where I talk about the painting at quite an early stage. I explain how I saw a certain dignity in the brutalised figures Goya had hanging from trees, with similarities to some depictions of Christ descending from the Cross.

Putin and Prigozhin

From the beginning I wanted the main actors occupying centre stage to be Vladimir Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin. At the time I painted this, Prigozhin was alive and still a trusted ally of the president, with his Wagner group taking the lead in the assault on Bakhmut. That costly assault gave Russia its only gain since the early days of the war. During this battle, Wagner mercenaries were accused of castrating Ukrainian  prisoners (read the story here).

Putin and Prigozhin in detail from the painting disasters of war.
Putin and Prigozhin, when they were friends

This central section also draws some inspiration from The Flaying of Marsyas – a late work by Titian which shows the killing by flaying or skinning alive of Marsyas, a satyr. Marsyas is hung from a tree like a butcher’s carcass, much like the brutalised figures in Goya’s etchings, and also like the captured soldiers in my painting. I wanted to capture something of the inhuman and bestial behaviour of the invading Russian troops; behaviour that most people could not believe would be happening in Europe in the 21st Century.

A picnic at an execution

It took me a while to fill the space in the bottom left. I tried out various figures, but in the end settled for someone having a picnic in front of this awful scene.

woman in hat enjoying a picnic in front of soldiers being tortured
woman enjoying a picnic, with blood splatters

I had in mind the wealthy Muscovites dining in their expensive restaurants, thinking themselves isolated from the “special operation” happening in a foreign land; they might see it as their evening entertainment on TV.
But they are still tainted by it.
As are we all.


I will be exhibiting this painting along with The Gleaners at S. B. Art Gallery in London, from the 27th-29th October

S.B. ART STUDIOS

An awkward conversation about my Ukraine War painting.

men wrestling on display at cluster contemporary art fair

I had a difficult conversation about this painting at the recent Cluster Contemporary Art Fair. A Ukrainian woman approached me and asked me to explain it. I don’t think she was happy with what I said.
First, I should make clear that I see only one aggressor in this war in Ukraine, and I admire the dignity and bravery of the Ukrainian people. But that is not what this painting is about.

details from Men Wrestling with Putin naked and Macron and Boris Johnson
details from Men Wrestling

Clearly I was mocking Putin, naked on his golden throne with rickety wooden legs. And having Macron with Boris Johnson wearing theatrical costumes is obviously questioning their motivation for their actions on the world stage. Biden cheering on from a distance is a comment on the US’s stance in this war.
No, what puzzled this woman was the relevance of the naked men wrestling.

naked men wrestling. detail from men wrestling

Many visitors who saw this painting at Cluster Contemporary spotted the reference to old photos of wrestlers by Eadweard Muybridge, and also to Francis Bacon’s Two Figures, which had used the Muybridge photos as a reference.

two figure by francis bacon, wrestlers by Eadweard Muybridge
Two Figures by Francis Bacon, Two Men Wrestling by Eadweard Muybridge

This is not a noble painting about Ukrainian heroism. Instead it is a grubby little story about you and me: it’s about everyone cheering their chosen sides from the safety of their living room; it is about how a primal conflict to the death by two warring races has become an exciting spectacle for the rest of the world; it is about my shame in feeling any excitement at missiles raining down on Russian tanks and troops; it is about my sadness over what we have become.

Preparations for an art fair

painting the gleaners, a work in progress
The Gleaners, unfinished

The unveiling of The Gleaners

I will be showing my most recent paintings at the Cluster Contemporary Art Fair in London, early November. One of the paintings that I am keen to show is The Gleaners – a work in progress, shown above. I hope I can finish it in time. You can learn more about it here.
The other two paintings that I will have on display will be “Alleged Assault on Pax by Mars” and “Men Wrestling”. Both very topical during this time of increased tension, and war in Ukraine.

detail from alleged assault on pax by mars, with trump and biden
detail from Alleged Assault on Pax by Mars, with preparatory sketches.

The photo above shows  sketches for the three figures behind the sofa, who each represent an archetypal modern woman (two of them are based on Madonna and Marilyn Monroe). It might give an idea of just how much preparatory work goes into these compositions, with each figure requiring a separate sitting and preparatory drawings.

detail of painting with putin naked, on golden throne
detail from Men Wrestling

It’s always nice to talk to people about my work, and to see people’s reactions. The fair runs from 4th-6th November. I’ll try to get along on most days, but if you’re planning a visit, send me a message, and I will make sure I am there.