War scene: Tube station

Joseph Batò's watercolour portrays the dual function of the underground as both a place of refuge and a transport system for Londoners during the Second World War. People can be seen lying in blankets on the platform while a train is shown leaving or in situ at the station. The presence of the suitcase on the left highlights the transitory nature of these spaces, particularly during wartime when people were displaced during air-raids. During the Blitz, which devastated the capital between 1940 and 1941, Londoners were forced to shelter underground as bombs repeatedly fell on the city.

Batò arrived in London from Hungary during the late 1930s as a refugee from the Nazis. In 1942, he published a book of his war drawings called 'Defiant City: drawings of bombed London'. After the war, the artist remained in London and worked in the film industry as both a designer and director.