Instantly recognisable with their distinctive colour-coordinated covers, the eight volumes which make up War Pictures by British Artists were published by the Oxford University Press some 75 years ago. Created to achieve wider appreciation of the artworks commissioned by the War Artistsí Advisory Committee (WAAC), the eight themed pocket books played an important role in how the war was perceived by those living through it and how it would be remembered by future generations. ëWhat did it look like? they will ask in 1981, and no amount of description or documentation will answer themí; so wrote Kenneth Clark in the unsigned text introducing the original series.

This new publication is the third in a series of Liss Llewellyn projects on war art.