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It is the evil things that we shall be fighting against Pencil and watercolour on paper and board, 30 x 28.8 cm, by Edmund Dulac, 1939 Location unknown Dulac was one of thirteen artists who contributed to The Queen's Book of the Red Cross with this work, depicting a striking allegorical battle as a shadowy creature with an almost mechanical, insect-like appearance, raising its multiple arms defensively while being driven back, with a city burning behind it, dark smoke and flames rising—a stark symbol of war’s devastation. The book was published in 1939 as a commemorative volume to raise funds for the British Red Cross and the Order of St John during the early months of the Second World War. It featured contributions from other prominent British writers, poets, and artists, including works by Rudyard Kipling, J. B. Priestley. The book was presented as a tribute to the humanitarian efforts of the Red Cross and was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother), who wrote the foreword. Its purpose was both to celebrate the organisation's work and to generate financial support for its wartime activities.   |
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