Watercolour, 30 by 47.5 cm (12 by 18 ¾ ins)

Provenance: Neil Jennings

Hennell was appointed an official War Artist in 1943 and in July of that year was sent to Iceland to replace Eric Ravilious who had been reported missing there in September 1942. There he was charged with painting “the background of the War effort”, including shipping at the harbour at Rekjavik and the comings-and-goings of British and American troops. He also had the chance to record the extraordinary and desolate landscape, remarking on the strange colours that emerged early morning and at sunset “when the broad shadows greatly increase...the mountains and lava fields are inclined to tawny, black and russet tones.” (letter to David Farnell, 15 August 1943). Something of this colouring is evident in this view of Stori Dimon, a strange isolated mountain on the flat plains of southern Iceland. Hennell’s Icelandic watercolours were amongst his most admired. After the War Edward Bawden reflected on seeing them at the National Gallery and how “they had convinced me that Tom had reached the first rank among English watercolour draughtsmen.”