with Redfern Gallery;
Lord and Lady Attenborough, May 1984
Exhibition History:
London, The Leicester Galleries at the Alpine Club Gallery, Nash and Nevinson in War and Peace, October – November 1977 (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, no. 25);
Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, The Print in England 1790-1930, March – May 1985 (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, no. 246);
Woking, The Lightbox, The Ingram Collection: Prints and Printmaking, 1 February – 30 April 2011;
Woking, The Lightbox, The Ingram Collection: The Impact of War, 15 October 2014 – 4 January 2015;
London, The Sammy Ofer Centre, London Business School, London|Forward Facing, 2 April – 18 July 2018;
Cookham, The Stanley Spencer Gallery, Counterpoint: Stanley Spencer and his contemporaries, 28 March – 3 November 2019
This print is from the ‘Building Aircraft’ portfolio series commissioned by the Bureau of Information, called The Great War: Britain’s Efforts and Ideals. Twelve artists made prints relating to the ‘Ideals’ (Making Soldiers, Making Sailors, Making Guns, Building Ships, Building Aircraft, Transport by Sea, Women’s Work, Work on the Land and Tending the Wounded) involved in going to war, and Nevinson was one of the nine artists commissioned to depict the ‘Efforts’ associated with war. This is the third of Nevinson’s six prints, which show the process of building an aeroplane, from making parts, to assembly, and finally to flight. Nevinson has focused on the drama of the scene, with the women’s faces lit by flying sparks as they weld aeroplane parts. Due to conscription the civilian workforce was severely depleted – women took on roles which had traditionally been the preserve of men. Nevinson portrays these women in a positive and professional manner – hair up, goggles on and intent on work. A leaflet issued at the time by the Ministry of Labour said ‘The average woman takes to welding as readily as she takes to knitting once she has overcome any initial nervousness due to sparks.’ The image shows women’s labour as integral to the war effort and of vital importance when many men were at war.
