By Ross Altman, PhD. This work, ‘The Pity of War’, is painted on panel and dates to 1970. The pity of war What is the role of the artist in times of crisis? Previous images of war had tended towards the glorious, full of bravery and flags, as in this engraving made from Alonzo Chappel’s painting of the taking of the Canadian Fort George in 1813— Even if the depiction tended to be more realistic, it came heavily filtered. What if the artist is also a surgeon? The art work shows a very poignant and moving iconic image representing the civilian victims of war. It is a recent gift to the Stirling Smith by the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament whose aim is to educate people on the dangers of nuclear war. Oh the First World War, boys, it came and it went / And the reason for fighting I never did get / But I learned to accept it / Accept it with pride / For you don’t count the dead / When God’s on your side.With God On Our Side,” by Bob Dylan “My subject is War, and the pity of War. In his The Pity of War , Mr. Niall Ferguson, an economic historian at Oxford, offers a challenging reassessment of the Great War, which, as he affirms, could have been avoided. The poetry is in the pity.” Wilfred Owen wrote these often quoted words in a preface intended for his one and only collection of poems, a collection that he never saw in print. The Pity of War Niall Ferguson London, Allen Lane: The Penguin Press, 1998, ISBN: 9780713992465; 304pp. He also has works in private and public collections worldwide. NOVEMBER 11, 1918-NOVEMBER 11, 2018. Do war artists inevitably romanticise suff ering, making them complicit in the warmongering enterprise? y subject is War, and the pity of War,” wrote Wilfred Owen, an English poet who died on the French front in World War I. This extensive creative ability has led him to produce over fifteen public statues located around the UK. In wartime, physicians are responsible for healing service-men, in order that they can be catapulted back into the killing fi elds. He has produced sculptures, paintings, drawings, installation pieces, as well as Son-et-Lumiere productions. Pity of War The so often untold, and unheard, story The sculptor. Starring John Hurt, this one-off special, The Pity of War, throws a new light on the First World War poets Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and Robert Graves, and using their diaries and letters, the inside story of their war is told – in their own words. We stand face to face and engage in a dialog about violence, war and destruction and about dignity, wisdom and compassion. Lieutenant Wilfred Owen, M.C., an officer of the Manchester Regiment, was killed in action on the Sambre Canal a week before the Armistice, aged 25. The Smith has a small but significant collection on the subject of … The three young men … The monument design and creation is by the sculptor, Peter Walker. 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