Existing comment:
James McBey
Zero. A Sixty-Five Pounder Opening Fire, 1918-20
After serving in France for one year, McBey was appointed official War Artist for the Sinai and Palestine campaign by Campaign Dodgson, Keeper of Prints and Drawings, at the British Museum.
Here, McBey records the precise moment of the twilight attack on the Turkish artillery positions, near the Palestinian village Jelil, on September 19, 1918.
Though McBey completed his composition in England, his drypoint technique achieves the swiftness of a sketch made on the spot. Textured, agitated lines evoke the ear-splitting blast of shellfire at "zero hour," as a violent flash of light obscures the surroundings of three gunmen. |