War of art history

The history of this genre begins relatively early: from the moment people began to understand what battle is. Christian culture tells us that humanity was “addicted” to war the moment Cain killed Abel. However, for a long time, the battle genre as such was not formed. The design of war art begins in the 16th century. Of course, even before this period, culture knew artworks on war. For example, we find sculptures in the form of chariots or warriors that belong to ancient Egyptian or ancient Chinese culture.

Artworks of war were often present in Ancient Greece. More precisely, these were elements, separate scenes on a military theme, which were usually depicted on amphorae. However, this was not the genre we associate with battle artworks. During the Middle Ages, humanity was faced with major wars, like the Crusades. Therefore, the history of this genre naturally begins with medieval battle art. The list of war artworks includes works on the following topics:

Cold War-related artworks;
First World War artworks;
Japanese war art;
American war art;
World War 2 artwork.

In the 20th century, modern war art received a “second wind”. During this period, artists move away from the one-sided representation of the war in the spirit of the glorification of warriors and patriotism. Paradoxically, the idea of many war artworks is a call for peace and pacifism. However, of course, there are those authors who bow to militarism in their total war artworks.

Famous battle artworks

As we said above, not all artworks with a war theme are glorifications of battle and the brutality of war. Authors such as Pablo Picasso and Vasily Vereshchagin, in their famous war artworks, presented war as something terrible. They wanted to show people that there is nothing good in wars. The main message of their popular battle artworks is a demonstration of fear, the consequences of war, which breaks into human life as a destructive whirlwind. Such ideas are a hallmark of fictional war artworks that emerged after the experience of world wars.

If we talk about the period before the 20th century, then at that time there was a reverse trend. Court artists sang of the generals and their achievements. During the period of domination of empires, war paintings — famous examples of this genre concentrated on the representation of military life and the successes of military leaders. Expansion, and conquest — are the central themes of this era.

For example, we can recall famous examples of French and British battle royale art. The canvases dedicated to Napoleon deserve special attention. Of course, painters did not always depict this emperor exclusively victoriously. So, we can recall a series of the battle of Waterloo artworks. This indicates that the attention of artists fell not only on victories but also on key military events — albeit not so brilliant and successful for someone.

Well-known battle artists

Among the best artists who created famous artworks about war are the following names: Alexander Sauerweid, Peter von Hess, Juliusz Kossak, Alphonse Neuville, Nikolai Karazin, Vasily Vereshchagin, Richard Sommer, and Ivan Petrov. If we talk about the most famous war artwork, then we can recall Picasso’s Guernica. In this picture, we see all the horror of the war, which the author conveys in the expression of lines, forms and the discomfort of the general impression of this war artwork. In general, battle artists at all times were interested in three topics:

heroism, the pathos of battle;
victory and its chanting;
patriotism, and self-sacrifice as key ideals.

This genre is saturated, on the one hand, with the romance of war, and on the other, with the tragedy of human life, and the experience of loss. Often, famous masters turned to the theme of the fall of empires and cities to display this unsightly, dramatic side of the war. Today, this topic does not lose popularity.

Buy battle artworks

Our battle artwork gallery offers you the best examples of contemporary artworks about war. You can study all the offers in detail and choose the battle artwork for sale that you like. You also have the opportunity to explore the popular trends that distinguish modern collecting. For example, many collectors and art lovers prefer to buy fantasy battle art instead of classics. Visit our site to open the battle artworks sale!

Battle Artworks for Sale