No. 6 "The Dawn" [From 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series]

Artist Augustus Edwin John (1878 - 1961)

Date1917

MediumLithograph on paper

Dimensions50.8 x 80.8 cm

ClassificationsPrint

Credit LineCollection & image © Hugh Lane Gallery. Donated by the British Ministry of Information. © The Estate of Augustus Edwin John.

Object number461

DescriptionThis is a planographic print (lithograph) on paper, and is part of a series entitled 'The Great War: Britain's Efforts And Ideals shown in a series of lithographic prints: 'The Ideals' series. There are a total of six lithographs in this particular series, and in total there are ten series. The lithographs are numbered as if the entire ten series are one, so this print is number 6.

While Augustus John had avoided active service due to having ‘housemaid’s knee’, he put his artistic talent in the service of the war effort by painting a portrait of Lloyd George which was auctioned in aid of the Red Cross. He was keen to make work inspired by the war and had volunteered to work for the Canadian War Memorials Fund, established by Lord Beaverbrook to record the Canadian contribution to the war effort. However, while at the Somme his mood vacillated between joy and a deep melancholy. He was deeply aware of the disparity between the beauty of the landscape in France and the turmoil of war when he observed a ‘good sun makes beauty out of wreckage.’ When he had to returned to England following an argument with a fellow officer, his mental state was very fragile. The Studio, in an article on the Efforts and Ideals series in 1917 described the allegorical meaning of Augustus John’s work in the following way: ‘From ruin, death and misery too, Mr. Augustus John’s Dawn, a figure of most expressive significance, turns her yearning, eager gaze toward the sunrise, with gaunt Yesterday behind her; at her feet a little child builds with stones from a ruin, and a corpse is carried to the field of the dead where the little crosses grow.’ While all around is destruction and death, the young child, possibly modelled on one of John’s own children (Vivien was born in 1915), is symbolic of a new beginning and hope for the future. However, post-war Britain and Europe were only slowly recovering from the horror of the preceding four years of conflict, a fact reflected by John when he wrote in 1919 ‘The dawn of peace breaks gloomily indeed’.
Jessica O'Donnell

This print depicts a bare footed and bare breasted woman on a rocky pile of cut stone, her left hand rests on a skull. Behind her a crone gazes at her. To her right a child is building an archway with small bricks. To the left of the image there stands a remnant of an archway, suggesting these figures are standing amid a ruined classical building. Perhaps these figures represent war, death, and new life, which must rebuild the ruined civilisation. On the ground below them two men are carrying a body. In the distance it appears smoke is bellowing from a nearby town.

John studied at the Slade School in London from 1894 to 1898. He was well known for his portraiture, which often showed the unflattering side to the sitter's personality. He gained reputation for his colourful personality. His interest in gypsy culture led him to travel around Ireland and Britain in a caravan with the Romany people.

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