IMAGE
Artist unknown: Xmas Eve at the Front. 1916
- Date
- 1916
- Reference
- G-555
- Description
Shows a night-time interior scene at the Western Front, Christmas Eve 1916. Twelve men, including officers and soldiers, are grouped together to celebrate, some sitting cooking food in a pot (which appears to be a German helmet) and warming themselves by a brazier, others sitting at a nearby table, raising their glasses in a toast. There is a bottle of alcohol and a box of cigarettes on the table, and most of the men are taking advantage of either or both. The windows of the hut are not blacked out by their curtains. The scene has a festive air about it, given the sombreness of their situation, and is reminiscent of the Christmas truces between the Allies and the Germans that happened on more than one occasion during World War I
It is not certain what nationality the men in this painting are. The canvas has stamped on the back 'Rembrandt Canvas / supplied only by the Sydney Fine Art Framing [Company?]', suggesting the artist was an Australian or a New Zealander
Other Titles - Christmas Eve
Inscriptions: Recto - bottom left - [Illegible signature]; Verso - centre - Xmas Eve at the Front, 1916 [in brushpoint]
Quantity: 1 oil(s).
Physical Description: Oil on canvas, 610 x 820 mm
- Access restrictions
- Partly restricted - Please use surrogate in place of original
- Format
- 1 oil(s), Works of art, Oil paintings, Group portraits, Oil on canvas, 610 x 820 mm, Orientation: Horizontal image
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Artist unknown: Xmas Eve at the Front. 1916. Ref: G-555. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/33809978More information can be found in our terms of use.