Paintings, Prints & Drawings — 1979
The Spirit of London during the Blitz
Amid the devastation of the Blitz, an air-raid warden directs a woman with two children to a shelter. The warden supports an elderly man who is brandishing his cane at a night sky criss-crossed with searchlights. In the background the dome of St Paul's Cathedral is partially hidden by dense smoke and the blazing buildings. A badly damaged house, with its door partly unhinged, can be seen in the right foreground.
The artist Nettie Moon ( 1909-81) painted this scene from memory in 1979 as part of a competition to depict the 'Spirit of London'. The painting portrays Londoners as resilient and defiant in the face of the German bombing campaign. Although Moon started her professional life as a designer of fabrics, she soon focused on photography and later became the first lady president of the Institute of Incorporated Photographers in 1954-5. Moon only took up painting late in life.
- Category:
- Paintings, Prints & Drawings
- Object ID:
- 89.263
- Object name:
- The Spirit of London during the Blitz
- Object type:
- Artist/Maker:
- Moon, Nettie
- Related people:
- Related events:
- Related places:
- Production date:
- 1979
- Material:
canvas board, oil, wood
- Measurements/duration:
- H 573 mm, W 679 mm, D 24 mm (framed), H 550 mm, W 655 mm (unframed), H.573, W 680 mm, D 30 mm (framed)
- Part of:
- —
- On display:
- —
- Record quality:
- 100%
- Part of this object:
- —
- Owner Status & Credit:
Permanent collection
- Copyright holder:
digital image © London Museum
- Image credit:
- —
- Creative commons usage:
- —
- License this image:
To license this image for commercial use, please contact the London Museum Picture Library.