Christopher Nevinson painting.

April 6, 2009

This painting was done by Christopher Nevinson, I am unsure of what the title is but is on page 886 of our text books. It shows three soldiers during World War I with a machine gun aimed at the enemy waiting to fire. Right above the soldiers' heads is a barbed wire and there is what looks like wood surrounding them. I am assuming these are not German soldiers because German soldiers have the Nazi flag symbol wrapped around their arm and these soldiers do not have that on. Two of the soldiers are spotting the enemies while the third soldier is not looking. It makes me wonder what he is looking at or thinking about that has him distracted from the enemy or is he waiting for the bullets to go off and cannot look at the gun because it might damage his eyes. This painting does show how much of a small amount soldiers had during battles and not much room to move, so if a bomb came and hit them, they would most likely not have enough time to get out of the way. Also, since they are in such a small amount of space, does that make them an easier target for the enemy? Many questions can be asked on how to keep a soldier safer during battle, especially after having an actual image such as the one Nevinson caught in his painting.