Edward Bawden - In the Middle East

This is an intertesting book about the War Artist Edward Bawden. It has a section dedicated to his time work as an Official War Artist in the Middle East during the Second World War. This book also has many examples of his artwork during this time. I think that I will be able to gain alot of fascinating and valuable information about Bawden from this book which may prove useful for my essay.

notes
Taken from Chapter 2 pg 21:
Bawden was one of the first five Official War Artists appointed in 1940. He was posted by the War Artists Advisory Commitee to the Middle East.

pg 22: He met with fellow war artist Anthony Gross. Quote from a letter to his wife, "you would not conceive how exciting it is after nearly twenty months to talk openly about painters and painting, or what it has been like working without that stimulus."
    This demonstrates how the commissioned war artists are taken away from their usual form of practice in order to gain a real sense of the actions of war and what is happening. They made sacrifices to report their information.

Chapter 3 pg 39:
1943, Bawden was positioned in Iraq. He was attatched to the ministry of information and addressed "British Embassy Public Relations Baghdad." He was sent to Persia to collect material for immediate use. He recorded the Aid to Russia supply operation and also recorded an anti-locust campaign in Saudi Arabia.

pg 42
A useful reference of Official War artists also being able to illustrate scenes of peace.
Also, "Edward Bawden's paintings depict not only Iraq in wartime, but also an Iraq that no longer exsists."