‘Accurate to the point of mania’: eyewitness testimony and memory making in Australia's official paintings of the first world war
Journal article
Hutchison, Margaret. (2015). ‘Accurate to the point of mania’: eyewitness testimony and memory making in Australia's official paintings of the first world war. Australian Historical Studies. 46(1), pp. 27 - 44. https://doi.org/10.1080/1031461X.2014.996574
Authors | Hutchison, Margaret |
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Abstract | The collection of official war art housed in the Australian War Memorial has played an important role in shaping a memory of the First World War for almost a century. This article explores the importance of eyewitness testimony in the production of war paintings for the Memorial's collection during the interwar years. Focusing on the repainting of official artist Harold Septimus Power's canvas Saving the Guns of Robecq, it explores the reasons why - in the inevitably contested construction of memory - Charles Bean and John Treloar privileged veterans ' memories over artists' interpretations of the conflict. It argues that in the process of memory making aesthetics mattered less than portraying the war in a way acceptable to the men who had experienced it. |
Keywords | war art; memory; First World War; eyewitness testimony |
Year | 2015 |
Journal | Australian Historical Studies |
Journal citation | 46 (1), pp. 27 - 44 |
Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
ISSN | 1940-5049 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1080/1031461X.2014.996574 |
Scopus EID | 2-s2.0-84923884225 |
Page range | 27 - 44 |
Research Group | School of Arts |
Publisher's version | File Access Level Controlled |
Place of publication | Australia |
Editors | K. Holmes |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/87v2w/-accurate-to-the-point-of-mania-eyewitness-testimony-and-memory-making-in-australia-s-official-paintings-of-the-first-world-war
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