01 Work, The art of War, Henri-Georges Chartier's French infantry recapturing Fort Douaumont, with Footnotes

Henri-Georges Chartier  (1859–1924)

French infantry recapturing Fort Douaumont on the 24 October 1916

Oil on canvas

Army Museum

The French Second Army made a first attempt to recapture the fort in late May 1916. They occupied the western end of the fort for 36 hours but were dislodged after suffering heavy losses, mostly from German artillery and trench mortars nearby. The Germans stubbornly held onto the fort, as it provided shelter for troops and served as first aid station and supply dump. French artillery continued to shell the fort, turning the area into a pockmarked moonscape, traces of which are still visible. More on Fort Douaumont

History through images aims to enrich knowledge of the past through works of art and iconographic documents relating to it. Many works, whatever their nature (painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, engraving, etc.), too often remain used as simple illustrations and deserve to be analyzed beyond the brief caption that most often accompanies them. These works do not only refer to significant events in French history (revolutions, wars, regime changes, etc.). The artists of past centuries have indeed left us a remarkable amount of testimony on the major social and cultural developments that France has experienced since the Revolution. More on this painting 

A painter of history and military subjects, Chartier, studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris with Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889), and exhibited for the first time at the Salon in 1885 (G. Schurr and P. Cabanne, Dictionnaire des petits maîtres de la peinture, 1820-1920, Paris, 1996, I, p. 256). The Musée de l’Armée in Paris holds several paintings by the artist, illustrating the Napoleonic wars, including La Veille de Waterloo (17 juin 1815) (‘The eve of Waterloo’) from 1907 (inv. 04808). In the present work, Chartier leaves behind his military subjects to depict himself in his studio with his palette and brushes. More on Henri-Georges Chartier

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