The unique and extraordinary images of the First World War created by Britain's first-ever official war artist

Muirhead Bone, Britain's official artist of the First World War, made dozens of extraordinary drawings to catalogue the scenes he witnessed. Country Life published many of those pictures at the time; here is a selection.

Battle of The Somme: The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library)
(Image credit: Battle of The Somme: The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library))
Toby Keel
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published
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In the Spring of 1916, Charles Masterman, head of the British War Propaganda Bureau, acting on the advice of artist William Rothenstein, appointed Muirhead Bone as Britain’s first official war artist.

Bone was sent to the front in August 1916 at the height of the Somme Offensive and toured the southern battlefields working rapidly in various media – pencil, pen, charcoal and chalk – before sending back over 150 finished drawings by October.

Over the course of his appointment he also spent time with the Royal Navy and returned to France in 1917. Many of the drawings from that second visit focused on the ruined architecture of France and Belgium as well as the human toll.

Country Life featured his work on several occasions and also published several catalogues of his striking drawings, one of which you can download here (PDF link).

The body of work is a fascinating record of the war which, as is so often the case with the war artists, somehow goes beyond the more straightforward representations provided by photography. Indeed, the artist himself – already well-known when he was recruited – reached new levels in his craft. As Charles Marriott wrote in Country Life in December 1916, ‘the Western Front has deepened his emotions and extended their range in a manner that one had hardly believed possible. There is not a phase of the soldier’s life that he has not touched upon with full sympathy.’

Here is a selection of some of the images:

The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library)

'Dug-outs': The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library)
(Image credit: The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library))

The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library)

'The happy warrior': The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library)
(Image credit: The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library))

The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library)

'On a hospital ship': The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library)
(Image credit: The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library))

The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library)

Cloth Hall, Ypres: The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library)
(Image credit: The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library))

The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library)

'The night picket': The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library)
(Image credit: The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library))

The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library)

'Officers' mess': The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library)
(Image credit: The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library))

The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library)

'The Battle of the Somme': The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library)
(Image credit: The work of Muirhead Bone, Britain’s official war artist during the First World War (Image via ©Country Life Picture Library))

Injured Indian soldiers of the British Army at the Brighton Pavilion, converted into a military hospital in 1915.

Injured Indian soldiers of the British Army at the Brighton Pavilion, converted into a military hospital in 1915.
(Image credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Toby Keel
Toby Keel

Toby Keel is Country Life's Digital Director, and has been running the website and social media channels since 2016. A former sports journalist, he writes about property, cars, lifestyle, travel, nature.

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