The Air War in Paintings

At the height of the Second World War, Britain’s skies were alight with dogfights, and its towns and cities bustling with the manufacturing of aircraft. The distant thunder of Spitfires, Hurricanes and bombers became a recurring sound, and rolling landscapes littered with airfields a familiar sight. As the air war transformed Britain’s towns and countryside, it also ignited the imaginations of artists.

The Air War in Paintings reveals how the artists of the 1940s responded to the unfolding air war in Britain, illuminating their private anxieties, their ambitions and their experiences. Drawing on the Imperial War Museum’s unrivalled collection, this richly illustrated book explores how war artists recorded and documented all aspects of the vast efforts to build Britain’s air capacity at a crucial time in its history

Suzanne Bardgett is Head of Research & Academic Partnerships at the Imperial War Museum. She is also the author of Wartime London in Paintings (2020).