At the outbreak of World War I, Paul Nash, a prominent artist, gave up painting and enlisted in the Artists Rifles, eventually fighting with the Hampshire Regiment.
Inspired by his story, this exhibition introduces the Artists Rifles: a volunteer regiment founded in 1860 under the threat of French invasion. Its early membership was a who's who of the Victorian art world: Burne Jones, Rossetti, Millais, Leighton and Holman Hunt.
The Great War saw a new stream of creative people join its ranks: Frank Dobson, Charles Jagger, Wilfred Owen, Edward Thomas and John Nash who went 'over the top' with the regiment in 1917.
Follow a history of the regiment and its members through a selection of artworks, including loans from National Portrait Gallery, the Imperial War Museum and the British Council.
Telephone: 0845 603 5635
See: http://www3.hants.gov.uk/hampshire-museums/willis-museum/willis-museum-eventdetails.htm?id=211474
