COLIN UNWIN GILL (1892/1940), ENGLISH PAINTER – The most notable work as a war artist during the First World War

Painting Western WWI Front

COLIN UNWIN GILL was born at Bexleyheath (Kent), and studied at the Slade School of Art. At the start of World War I he served on the Western Front, until he was back to England with gas poisoning in 1918. His first exhibited in 1914, and he showed works at the Royal Academy. He also taught painting at the Royal College of Art. In the early thirties, while occupying a studio on the first floor of her Chelsea home, he had an affair with a Great War heroine and writer. Looking for “King Alfred’s Longships Defeat the Danes, 877”? Entering at the Parliamentary Art Collection (Palace of Westminster, in London), you can admire his 1925-1927 oil on canvas.

His work is held in the Tate Gallery and the Imperial War Museum. Decorative and genre painter, COLIN UNWIN GILL was a cousin of the sculptor and printmaker Eric Gill. He died in South Africa in 1940, while working on a series of murals for the Magistrates Court in Johannesburg. In May 1918 he offered his services as a war artist but initially was turned down and continued to work as a camouflage instructor. If you wish admire his 1921 painting “Cliffs at Beer, Devon”, you can enter at the UCL Art Museum, in London.

COLIN UNWIN GILL, painting murals and portraits, is notable for the work he produced as a war artist during World War One. Between 1925 and 1927, he worked on a large mural (King Alfred’s long-ships defeat the Danes, 877) for St. Stephen’s Hall in the Palace of Westminster. In London, you can admire his famous 1918 oil on canvas painting “The Captive” at the Imperial War Museums.

The intellectual property of the images that appear in this blog correspond to their authors. The sole purpose of this site, is to spread the knowledge of these artists and that other people enjoy their works. To pursue this issue, you can digit: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1050000291

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