William Scott, 1913 –1989

Camouflaged Soldier

Oil on canvas, about 1943

William Scott was never employed as a war artist. During the Second World War he predominantly served as a soldier in the map-making division of the Royal Engineers from July 1942 until early 1946. The artist has described this period of his life as "dark and painful". His wartime paintings represent a detour into Neo-Romanticism and show the influence of Graham Sutherland. Scott never considered himself a landscape painter as it was the man-made things that attracted him. Camouflage demonstrates the 'primitive realism' he experimented with. Scott’s reconstruction of images from memory results in a captivating intensity and awkwardness, amplified by the high horizon serving to flatten the space.

Purchased, 1970