AN ENGLISH CUBIST

WILLIAM ROBERTS:

Burying the Dead After a Battle

Illustration © The Estate of John David Roberts. Reproduced with the permission of the William Roberts Society. Catalogue information based on the catalogue raisonné by David Cleall. For this and full details of the exhibitions cited, see the links below. Any auction prices quoted may not include all fees and taxes, such as VAT and Artist's Resale Right charges.

Burying the Dead After a Battle, 1919 (signed and dated)
Black crayon on paper, 50.2 cm x 45.7 cm

'We buried our own dead, together with some left over from the infantry's advance, shoulder to shoulder in a wide shallow grave, each in his blood-stained uniform and covered by a blanket. I noticed that some feet projected beyond the covering, showing that they had died with their boots on, in some cases with their spurs on too' – Roberts, Memories of the War to End War 1914–18.
PROVENANCE: Sir Stephen Gaselee > Christie's 23 May 1947 > Abbot > Ernest Cooper > Imperial War Museum (15594)
EXHIBITION HISTORY: New English Art Club 1919, Bucharest 1935, Vienna 1936, Tate Gallery 1965, Preston 1993, Barbican Art Gallery 1994