'MI6' and 'Onlookers in France: Two Irish Artists and the First World War'
Photograph (c) EdWrightImages
He spoke to a group of students and their teacher Jean-René Fonquerne (Lycée Albert I - Monaco) about the history of the Secret Intelligence Service. In 2005, he was appointed to write the first official history of the SIS and is the only historian ever to have had full access to the Service archives. 'MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence Service 1909-1949' was published in 2010 to wide critical acclaim.
He addressed the Friends of the Library about the activities of Dublin-born Sir William Orpen and Belfast-born Sir John Lavery who were both appointed Official British War Artists during the First World War. Orpen painted an extraordinary range of canvases, from apparently idyllic landscapes of the Somme battlefield, to stunning portraits and sombre reflections of the destructive and dispiriting impact of the war on soldiers and civilians alike. Lavery, who painted the ‘home front’ and the war at sea, also produced images of civilians in France in 1919. The work of both artists reflects the political and social impact of the war in ways which still resonate almost a century later.
He addressed the Friends of the Library about the activities of Dublin-born Sir William Orpen and Belfast-born Sir John Lavery who were both appointed Official British War Artists during the First World War. Orpen painted an extraordinary range of canvases, from apparently idyllic landscapes of the Somme battlefield, to stunning portraits and sombre reflections of the destructive and dispiriting impact of the war on soldiers and civilians alike. Lavery, who painted the ‘home front’ and the war at sea, also produced images of civilians in France in 1919. The work of both artists reflects the political and social impact of the war in ways which still resonate almost a century later.
Les dernières actus du Danemark
