Army art on display

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 410, 29 October 1991, Page 1

Army art on display

BY

JOANNA

SAUNDERS

A major war art exhibition is to be displayed at the Army Memorial Museum over the Christmas holiday period. Entitled "Loss of Innocence", the exhibition features the work of

a number of First World War war artists. It aims to show how their perspectives of war changed as they were exposed to its full horror. The visitor is taken through the transition of the artist's view of war as a romantic, patriotic endeavour Turnpage2

Army Art

From page 1 to the more sobering reality of trench warfare and mass destruction of property and life. "Loss of Innocence" was curated by Dr Christopher Pugsley, author of two histories of New Zealand soldiers in the First World War. It includes paintings from both the New Zealand national war art collection held at National Archives, Wellington, and a selection of the work of Horace Moore-Jones, which is now housed at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. It is particularly significant that New Zealanders now have the opportunity to see Moore-Jones paints. Moore-Jones, a New Zealander enlisted in the British Contingent of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force at the outbreak of war in 1914, served at Gallipoli as a draughtsman. He completed a series of landscape sketches and the famous 'Simpson and his Donkey' during the campaign. After the war he offered his landscapes to the New Zealand Government. When our Government refused to pay for the paintings, they were immediately purchased by the Australian Government for dispiay in the Australian War Memorial, which was then under construction. "Loss of Innocence" opens to the public in mid-November, and will run until mid January.