Anna Airy (British painter) 1882 - 1964
The 'L' Press. Forging the Jacket of an 18-inch Gun: Armstrong-Whitworth Works, Openshaw, 1918
oil on canvas
183.8 x 214.5 cm.
signed
Imperial War Museums, United Kingdom
Catalogue Note Imperial War Museums
The interior view of a munitions factory showing the manufacture of 18' guns with munition workers. A figure in suit and bowler hat stands in the foreground. There is a warm orange light spread over the scene emitted from the forge in the right of the composition.
The 18-inch gun was one of the largest calibre artillery pieces employed by British forces; indeed a replica 18-inch gun barrel was exhibited at the Imperial War Museum’s first home at the Crystal Palace in 1920. Compared to Clausen’s munitions interior (see IWM ART 1984) Airy’s painting is less dramatic but altogether lighter and more informative. She was particularly keen to convey the rapidly changing colours of cooling molten metal.
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