'An Englishman's Home in 1940' - War Damage: Crawford Street (near Baker Street)

This drawing is by the war artist Joseph Batò. Entitled 'An Englishman's Home in 1940', it shows bomb damage to a house in Crawford Street, near Baker Street. Whilst most of the house has been destroyed one wall remains almost intact, with furniture and even items such as the clock still in their place.

During World War II over 100,000 London homes were destroyed and up to one million damaged. Batò's drawing reveals how bombing often exposed the most personal possessions and details of people's lives to public scrutiny. There was little privacy in war.

Joseph Batò was born in Hungary and studied art in Paris under Henri Matisse. He arrived in London during the late 1930s as a refugee from the Nazis. In 1942, his wartime drawings were published in the book 'Defiant City: drawings of bombed London'.