Take Off (painting)
| Take Off | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Laura Knight |
| Year | 1943 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Location | The Imperial War Museum, London |
Take Off is an oil on canvas painting by English artist Laura Knight, created in 1943. It is one of the several works that she made when she was one of the British official war artists during World War II. It is held at the Imperial War Museum, in London.[1][2]
Description
The painting depicts the interior of a the British Stirling Mk 3 bomber of the Royal Air Force. Inside the plane there are the four crew members, who are preparing for take off before another night raid on Nazi Germany during World War II. Two pilots sit in the cockpit, a navigator looks at his his maps, and in the foreground a flight sergeant turns a knob on the wireless device.[3]
The painter, Laura Knight, stated that this painting had been the most difficult task she had done so far in the war. The final result of the work is flawless, because it depicts in a very faithful and detailed manner the moment of preparation for the take-off of the British crew, which is concentrating in their next mission. The realism of the painting gives it a very photographic feeling. The navigator of the scene would be killed in action and his mother received a reproduction of this picture as a memento.[4][5]
References
- ^ Take Off, Imperial War Museums
- ^ Take off, Art Uk
- ^ Take Off, Imperial War Museums
- ^ Catherine Speck, Beyond the Battlefield: Women Artists of the Two World Wars, London, Reaktion Books, Ltd, 2014
- ^ Barbara C. Morden, Laura Knight: A Life, Carmarthen, McNidder and Grace, 2013
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