Forces With History #221--Canada's War Artists

have brush, will travel

It just occurred to me recently that of my three wartime historical novels, two of them feature covers by war artists. Regular readers of Forces With History will know that my latest, THE FORGOTTEN: A NOVEL OF THE KOREAN WAR features an image of “Freeze” by Ted Zuber.

(photo credit Brian Douglas at THE FORGOTTEN’s recent launch)

Zuber was a veteran of the Korean War who was wounded when a comrade accidentally triggered a grenade. He later became an official War Artist; “Freeze” portrays a Canadian patrol illuminated by an enemy flare. If they don’t stand stockstill, they’ll be visible and attract fire.

My first novel, Soldier of the Horse, bears a cover that is part of an unfinished painting called “A Canadian Trooper and His Horse.” The painting was by Alfred (later Sir Alfred) Munnings, an English equestrian painter. He came to the attention of Lord Beaverbrook, then a Canadian serving in the British War Cabinet. Beaverbrook hired Munnings to paint the Canadian cavalry in action.

World War I saw a myriad of Canadian artists hired to record scenes of Canadians in the war. Lord Beaverbrook established the Canadian War Memorials Fund, which resulted in more than a hundred artists producing work. Among them were many who are still very well known, including members of the later Group of Seven, such as A. Y. Jackson and Arthur Lismer.

I’ll be writing more about Canadian war artists in future editions.
In the meantime, on another front, I met a number of enthusiastic readers at Black Bond’s bookstore in the White Rock Semiahmoo Mall last Saturday. THE FORGOTTEN and I will be at the Langley Indigo store on December 8th, from 1-3 pm, if you can make it!

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