In 2006 I was invited to take part in an exhibition called ‘Everyone Sang- a view of Siegfried Sassoon at the Francis Kyle Gallery in London.
I took this as an opportunity to visit Amiens and the landscape around the Somme in northern France in order to make some paintings.
I used Sassoon’s ‘Memoirs of an Infantry Officer’ as my guide and visited many of the places he described.
First published in 1930 the book is a fictionalised account of Sassoon's own life during and immediately after World War I and was heralded as a classic.
I closely followed in Sassoon’s footsteps attempting to see what he saw and reflecting on all the terrible violence that took place there. The image with the map shows the key places with corresponding page numbers from the book, most of which I visited.
All the drawings are from my sketchbook made during the trip.
The Somme River oil on canvas 35 x 70 cm 2006 Sold
Drawing I for the Somme River looking towards Amiens pen 42 x 21 cm
Drawing II for the Somme River pen
42 x 21 cm
Le Hamel oil on canvas 36 x 36 cm 2006 Sold
Drawing study for Le Hamel pen 14 x 21 cm
The Church at Dieppe pen 14 x 21 cm
Kites on the Beach, Dieppe pen 14 x 21 cm
The River Somme oil on canvas 36 x 36 cm (destroyed)
Reflection and Shadow. Drawing for Somme River II pen 14 x 21cm
Drawing of Somme River at Sailly-Laurette, looking towards Chipilly 42 x 21 cm