01 Painting, The art of War, Clive Branson's bombed Women and Searchlights, with footnotes

Clive Branson 1907–1944

Bombed Women and Searchlights, c. 1940

Oil paint on canvas

509 × 612 × 20 mm

Tate

Bombed Women and Searchlights was painted in response to the London Blitz which began in September 1940. Branson was then living in Battersea where he would have witnessed at first hand the devastating air raids. In this painting he employs surrealistic juxtapositions and unusual perspectives to imbue the painting with a startling visual intensity, while at the same time giving an overt critique of the war. 

The determined face of the woman on the left, (possibly a portrait of the artist’s wife rescuing some of her possessions from the scene of the recent attack confronts the viewer whose attention is also drawn towards the dramatically foreshortened chair, empty cigarette packet and striped barrier. The sky, filled with barrage balloons to prevent bombing by the Luftwaffe, is lit up by two searchlights which make an aggressive pattern over a factory. The ‘Dig for Victory’ poster on the right hand side, which shows a man working a spade into the earth, refers to a Government campaign which encouraged people to cultivate their gardens and allotments due to the difficulty of importing foodstuffs. The graffiti immediately beneath it with the slogan, ‘Vote Joyce, Say Peace’, alludes to the British Nazi propagandist, William Joyce, who broadcast appeals to the British to surrender. The poster on a shop window which reads ‘Smile and say Victory’, hardly seems reassuring amid the general devastation. The conflicting sentiments draw attention to the tensions in British Society during the war. More on this painting

Clive Ali Chimmo Branson (1907 – 25 February 1944) was an English artist and poet, and an active communist in the 1930s. A number of his paintings are in the Tate Gallery. His wife was Noreen Branson (16 May 1910 – 25 October 2003). Their daughter is the artist Rosa Branson (born 1933).

He was an active recruiter for the International Brigade, and himself fought in the Spanish Civil War from January 1938, being captured at Calaceite on 31 March 1938. As a prisoner of war at the Nationalist camp of San Pedro de Cardeña, he painted and sketched the camp and many of its inmates, at the request of the authorities; some of this work survives in the Marx Memorial Library in London.

He married Noreen Browne in 1931. Their daughter Rosa Branson was born in 1933. He died in action in Burma on 25 February 1944, where he was serving as a Sergeant in the British Army, as part of the 54th Training Regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps.

Branson was killed commanding an M3 Lee tank of B Squadron, 25th Dragoons. He was hit a glancing but fatal blow on the back of the head by a Japanese anti-tank shell near Point 315 at the end of the Battle of the Admin Box. Branson was a popular man in the unit and his crew "were inconsolable". His friend, the composer Bernard Stevens, dedicated his 1945 Symphony of Liberation to the memory of Branson. More on Clive Ali Chimmo Branson

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints, 365 Days, and Biblical Icons, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

Please note that the content of this post primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.