Paintings, Prints & Drawings — C. 1941
Incendiaries
A fireman carrying two buckets of sand is shown from the back trying to extinguish an incendiary fire, with its characteristic magnesium-blue flames. Most of the war damage to the city was caused by incendiary bombs which fell between September 1940 and May 1941. Although water hoses and the figures of two other fire fighters can be identified, for the most part the intense light and the smoke of the fire obliterate the details of the surroundings.
During the Second World War, Paul Dessau (1909-99) joined the Auxiliary Fire Service and worked an as Auxiliary fireman at a sub-station in Southwark. As a result, he became one of London's Firemen Artists and regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1942.
- Category:
- Paintings, Prints & Drawings
- Object ID:
- 78.239
- Object name:
- Incendiaries
- Object type:
- Artist/Maker:
- Dessau, Paul Lucien
- Related people:
- Related events:
- Related places:
- Production date:
- c. 1941
- Material:
canvas, oil, wood
- Measurements/duration:
- H 750 mm, W 645 mm, D 70 mm (framed), H 610 mm, W 507.5 mm (unframed), H 750 mm, W 650 mm, D 60 mm (overall)
- Part of:
- —
- On display:
- —
- Record quality:
- 100%
- Part of this object:
- —
- Owner Status & Credit:
Permanent collection
- Copyright holder:
Artist's estate unknown
- Image credit:
- —
- Creative commons usage:
- —
- License this image:
To license this image for commercial use, please contact the London Museum Picture Library.