At the outbreak of the Second World War an ambitious scheme was set up to employ artists on the home front to record the changing landscape of Britain. Sir Kenneth Clark commissioned artists to paint ‘places and buildings of characteristic national interest’, documenting rural and urban environments and precious buildings under threat, not only from bombs but from the effects of ‘progress’ and development. The result was a collection of more than 1500 watercolours of which 49 are on display in this exhibition. Read more.
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