1944
Oil on canvas
76.2 x 127 cm
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Recto: Signed and dated lower left: R Eurich 1944
Other measurements: 76 x 127 cms [Bradford, 1979]; 76.2 x 127 cms [IWM and Southampton]; Springboard before D-day [RE sales diary]
The South IWM Imperial War Museum Royal Navy WW2 WWII World War 2 World War II ambulance barrage balloons bonfire camouflaged figures landing craft landing ship military ship public collection scaffolding tanks tents trees war war artist warships wartime6th June 1944 (D Day): Started work on Invasion Preparations (30x50)
In a letter to Sydney Schiff (3rd July 1944) referring to the fact that this painting had not been passed for public exhibition by the Censor, Eurich remarked: " The funny part about it is that the whole thing is a creation of my own and has no relation to facts at all - I saw so much of everything that was going on here that I realised it was impossible to render things as seen, so I set to work to recreate the thing in my mind from odds and ends remembered." The Censor's ban was a classic case …
In a letter to Sydney Schiff (3rd July 1944) referring to the fact that this painting had not been passed for public exhibition by the Censor, Eurich remarked: " The funny part about it is that the whole thing is a creation of my own and has no relation to facts at all - I saw so much of everything that was going on here that I realised it was impossible to render things as seen, so I set to work to recreate the thing in my mind from odds and ends remembered." The Censor's ban was a classic case of Eurich's ability to convince viewers of the absolute reality of what were often largely imaginative reconstructions.
Richard also depicted D-Day in a triptych now in The Harris, in Preston, Lancs.
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