Historic digitized art is being made available through a partnership between the National Archives (UK) and Wikimedia UK. The content is public domain.
Hundreds of original wartime art works are going online following a partnership between The National Archives and Wikimedia UK.
Photographed with a digitisation grant from Wikimedia UK, the collection is now freely available on Wikimedia Commons and includes oil paintings, drawings, posters, caricatures and portraits produced as propaganda for the Ministry of Information during the Second World War. There are currently over 350 pieces available to view online, but there are plans to digitise the entire collection of almost 2,000 art works.
The collection includes portraits of Allied commanders, members of the Royal Family and leading figures such as Stalin, Churchill and Eisenhower. Also showcased are some of the original works behind famous campaigns such as ‘Dig for Victory’ and ‘Careless talk costs lives’, as well as works by artists such as Terence Cuneo and Laura Knight.
The collection also includes unpublished and draft works, many with pencilled comments by the artists or Ministry officials clearly visible.
- Assassination of Heydrich by Terence Cuneo
- Horse drawn plough, land girl by Laura Knight
- Unity of Strength Together by William Little
- General Sir Bernard Montgomery by Harold Forster
- Bombing scene by C.E Turner
- Stand Firm! by Tom Purvis
- Combined operations include you by Harold Pym
- Tower Bridge by Eve Kirk
Today’s news follows a donation of almost 5,000 images to Wikimedia Commons in April as part of the Africa Through a Lens project.
Learn More About the World War II Art Project (via Project Page)
Direct to All Digitized Images
About Gary Price
