Hello All,
For this, my 5,000th post, I thought I might re-visit the superb artwork of the British war artist Joseph Simpson - in the unlikely chance that any of you who like WWI aviation art don't know about him.
I have studied many contemporary (1914-18) depictions of aerial combat of the Great War, produced by a wide variety of artists. Some of these were created for the illustrated newspapers and periodicals of the day. We all know the work of Henri Farré, and there were other contemporary French artists who occasionally produced aviation scenes like Francois Flameng. Among the 8 official American war artists, Harry Everett Townsend had the greatest interest in aviation, and he produced some very fine works. However, many of the artists who produced aviation-related works during the war knew relatively little about the details of aircraft structure (or didn't care about them) and their work is "dated" looking and recognizably crude.
Joseph Simpson's work, on the other hand, is just as accurate and photo-realistic as the work of today's best aviation artists. His work can stand alongside any "modern" av-art and pass muster with today's critical enthusiasts; in fact, his paintings have been used as references for modern scholars investigating colors and markings. Not only were his British planes highly accurate, Simpson based his renderings of German aircraft on photos of captured machines or upon his own inspection of such aircraft. His work is so important, that its origins are even described in the Official History,
The War in the Air by H.A. Jones, Volume VI:
“In the early part of 1918 the propaganda activities were extended….A suggestion was made that authentic pictures of air fighting should be published, and Mr. Joseph Simpson, the artist, offered his services without fee. He went to France in May 1918 and made his head-quarters at the Aeroplane Supply Depot at Bergues where he had a varied stock of aircraft to serve as models. He was given details of incidents considered suitable for painting, and when he had made his rough drawings he took them to the squadron to submit them to the criticism of the flying personnel who had taken part in the action depicted. On the finished pictures the squadron markings and the factory serial numbers were inserted on the aeroplanes. The artist was at liberty to sell the first serial rights to an illustrated paper, but the copyright rested with the Aircraft Production Department which could, at its discretion, give prints away or sell them. What usually happened was that a brief story of the episode was added and that prints, bought by arrangement with the illustrated paper in which the picture had appeared, were sent to the factories where the particular types of aeroplanes were built, and to makers of the engines, magnetos, plugs &c. Some firms bought many thousands of copies of those pictures which were of special interest to them and made their own arrangements about distribution… The pay envelopes of the workers in the various aircraft factories also came to be used to carry small propaganda pictures with a line or two of appropriate text.”
Here he depicted Sopwiths of 65 Sqdn, led by Capt.
John Gilmour in Camel D8118 (S), attacking a mixed group of Albatros & Pfalz on 1 July 1918; Gilmour was credited with five victories in this combat.
This scene of a Pfalz losing its wing was published in
The Graphic. The Pfalz is obviously based on careful examination of photos of the captured D.III 1370/17 of Jasta 10, with crosses updated correctly.
Here is an FE2 doing nocturnal bombing, the type's main role in 1918:
Here is his famous interpretation of
Roy Brown attacking Richthofen:
This familiar portrayal of a Camel and SE5a doing the unpopular and hazardous job of bombing & strafing the enemy trenches was first published in
The Sphere in October 1918.
