20th Century Spotlight: National Army Museum, London

The art collection of the National Army Museum represents a very small part of the holdings of the museum. Within the 20th Century Collection there are paintings that chronicles the army’s presence both at home and across the globe. Rex Whistler's self-portrait is perhaps the Army Museum's most well-known painting from the last century.

Artists featured in this Curation: Henry Charles Bevan-Petman (1894–1980), Oswald Hornby Joseph Birley (1880–1952), Arthur Royce Bradbury (1892–1977), Godfrey Herbert Brennan (1875–1948), Lance Cattermole (1898–1992), Jack Chalker (1918–2014), Richard Tennant Cooper (1885–1957), Desmond Doig (1921–1983), Raphael Drouart (1894–1972), Thomas Cantrell Dugdale (1880–1952), and 27 more See all

37 artworks

Storyline Album Showcase

Henry Charles Bevan-Petman (1894–1980)
Subadar Khudadad Khan (1888–1971), VC, 10th Baluch Regiment 1952
Henry Charles Bevan-Petman (1894–1980)
Oil on canvas
H 76.2 x W 69.8 cm
National Army Museum

© National Army Museum. Image credit: National Army Museum
Oswald Hornby Joseph Birley (1880–1952)
General Lord Rawlinson of Trent (1864–1925), GCB, GCSI, GCVO, KCMG 1925
Oswald Hornby Joseph Birley (1880–1952)
Oil on canvas
H 152.4 x W 101 cm
National Army Museum

Image credit: National Army Museum
Arthur Royce Bradbury (1892–1977)
Private Grant, Royal Berkshire Regiment, Chesil Beach, Portland, 1917 1917
Arthur Royce Bradbury (1892–1977)
Oil on board
H 29.3 x W 21.6 cm
National Army Museum

© the copyright holder. Image credit: National Army Museum
Godfrey Herbert Brennan (1875–1948)
A Driver, The WSL c.1917
Godfrey Herbert Brennan (1875–1948)
Oil on paper
H 39.5 x W 27 cm
National Army Museum

Image credit: National Army Museum
Lance Cattermole (1898–1992)
Sergeant Percy Stanford, 5th Sussex (Worthing) Battalion, Home Guard 1940
Lance Cattermole (1898–1992)
Oil on canvas
H 101 x W 76 cm
National Army Museum

© the copyright holder. Image credit: National Army Museum
Jack Chalker (1918–2014)
Medical Inspection, Chungkai Hospital Camp, 1943 c.1946
Jack Chalker (1918–2014)
Oil on canvas
H 89.4 x W 63.8 cm
National Army Museum

© National Army Museum. Image credit: National Army Museum
Richard Tennant Cooper (1885–1957)
The Working Party, c.1917 c.1918
Richard Tennant Cooper (1885–1957)
Oil on canvas
H 74 x W 125 cm
National Army Museum

© National Army Museum. Image credit: National Army Museum
Desmond Doig (1921–1983)
Rifleman Thaman Gurung (1924–1944), VC, 1st Battalion, 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force) c.1945
Desmond Doig (1921–1983)
Oil on canvas
H 57 x W 43 cm
National Army Museum

© the copyright holder. Image credit: National Army Museum
Raphael Drouart (1894–1972)
Prisoners of War at the Giessen Prisoner of War Camp, Germany, Autumn/ Winter 1917 1917
Raphael Drouart (1894–1972)
Oil on board
H 26.9 x W 36.5 cm
National Army Museum

© the copyright holder. Image credit: National Army Museum
Thomas Cantrell Dugdale (1880–1952)
Lieutenant Colonel Harry Whitehill, DSO, Wearing the Uniform of His Former Regiment, the City of London Yeomanry (Roughriders) 1935
Thomas Cantrell Dugdale (1880–1952)
Oil on canvas
H 111.7 x W 86.7 cm
National Army Museum

Image credit: National Army Museum
Simon Elwes (1902–1975)
Havildar (later Honorary Captain) Gaje Ghale (1919–2000), VC, 2nd Battalion, 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force) 1943
Simon Elwes (1902–1975)
Oil on canvas
H 57.8 x W 46.4 cm
National Army Museum

© the artist's estate. Image credit: National Army Museum
Reginald Grenville Eves (1876–1941)
Lieutenant General Sir Ronald Forbes Adam (1885–1982), Bt, c.1940 1940
Reginald Grenville Eves (1876–1941)
Oil on board
H 50.2 x W 40.6 cm
National Army Museum

Image credit: National Army Museum
Samuel Melton Fisher (1859–1939)
Field Marshal Lord Allenby of Megiddo and Felixstowe (1861–1936), GCB, GCMG c.1925
Samuel Melton Fisher (1859–1939)
Oil on canvas
H 147.8 x W 104.6 cm
National Army Museum

Image credit: National Army Museum
Terry Frost (1915–2003)
Sergeant Ernest (‘Ernie’) Little, 5 Buffs, as a Prisoner of War in Germany or Poland 1944
Terry Frost (1915–2003)
Oil on canvas
H 46.5 x W 41.6 cm
National Army Museum

© estate of Terry Frost. All rights reserved, DACS 2025. Image credit: National Army Museum
Gilbert Joseph Holiday (1879–1937)
Horse-drawn Transports (possibly an artillery train), Passing the Ruined Cloth Hall, Ypres, 1917 1917
Gilbert Joseph Holiday (1879–1937)
Oil with chalk & charcoal on paper
H 62.5 x W 63.5 cm
National Army Museum

Image credit: National Army Museum
Henry Holzer (1907–2007)
"Cat. A"/Night Engagement/Sussex Coast 1945
Henry Holzer (1907–2007)
Oil on board
H 50.7 x W 38.1 cm
National Army Museum

© the copyright holder. Image credit: National Army Museum
Ken Howard (1932–2022)
British Troops on the Streets of Belfast during a Riot 1975
Ken Howard (1932–2022)
Oil & tempera on card
H 21.5 x W 27.5 cm
National Army Museum

© the artist's estate / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: National Army Museum
Ray Howard-Jones (1903–1996)
Entrance to Home Guard Camp/Colonel Llewellyn, Western Command 1942
Ray Howard-Jones (1903–1996)
Oil on card
H 27.4 x W 36.2 cm
National Army Museum

© Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales and Nicola Howard-Jones. Image credit: National Army Museum
Alexander Jamieson (1873–1937)
Field Marshal Lord Kitchener (1850–1916), Inspecting the 10th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment in Camp at Halton, 1914 1914
Alexander Jamieson (1873–1937)
Oil on canvas
H 51 x W 76 cm
National Army Museum

Image credit: National Army Museum
John Keane (b.1954)
Ecstasy of Fumbling 1991
John Keane (b.1954)
Oil on canvas
H 157.5 x W 107 cm
National Army Museum

© the artist/courtesy Flowers Gallery, London and New York. Image credit: National Army Museum
Dorothy King (active c.1939)
Captain Effendi Juma, 3rd Battalion, King’s African Rifles c.1939
Dorothy King (active c.1939)
Oil on board
H 41 x W 31 cm
National Army Museum

© the copyright holder. Image credit: National Army Museum
Ralph Lillford (1932–2019)
‘You Are Now Entering Free Derry', Londonderry, 1973 1973
Ralph Lillford (1932–2019)
Oil on board
H 91.8 x W 122 cm
National Army Museum

© the artist. Image credit: National Army Museum
Dora Meeson (1869–1955)
Peace Celebrations, Indian Troops Marching Down Whitehall, 1919 1919
Dora Meeson (1869–1955)
Oil on canvas
H 61 x W 50.8 cm
National Army Museum

© National Army Museum. Image credit: National Army Museum
Edward Eugene Louis Mortelmans (1915–2008)
Sepoy (acting Naik, Later Jemadar) Nand Singh (1914–1947), 1st Battalion 11th Sikh Regiment, Winning the Victoria Cross at the Arakan, Burma, 12 March 1944 c.1948
Edward Eugene Louis Mortelmans (1915–2008)
Oil on canvas
H 42.2 x W 76 cm
National Army Museum

© the copyright holder. Image credit: National Army Museum
Robert Nunan (1922–1996)
Termoli, Italy c.1976
Robert Nunan (1922–1996)
Oil on board
H 40.6 x W 61 cm
National Army Museum

© the copyright holder. Image credit: National Army Museum
Fred Roe (1864–1947)
Somewhere at the Front, Soldiers Around a Camp Fire at Night, Western Front c.1915
Fred Roe (1864–1947)
Oil on canvas
H 173.1 x W 107.8 cm
National Army Museum

Image credit: National Army Museum
Dick Romyn (1915–2007)
And the World was Covered in Darkness, c.1943 c.1970
Dick Romyn (1915–2007)
Oil on canvas
H 79.2 x W 85 cm
National Army Museum

© National Army Museum. Image credit: National Army Museum
Walter Westley Russell (1867–1949)
The Cloth Hall, Ypres 1918
Walter Westley Russell (1867–1949)
Oil on canvas
H 104.3 x W 155.5 cm
National Army Museum

Image credit: National Army Museum
Frank O. Salisbury (1874–1962)
George V (1865–1936), at Mount Kemmel, South of Ypres, during His Tour of the Western Front, 1917 1917
Frank O. Salisbury (1874–1962)
Oil on canvas
H 47.3 x W 60 cm
National Army Museum

© estate of Frank O. Salisbury. All rights reserved, DACS 2025. Image credit: National Army Museum
Stella Schmolle (1908–1975)
Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan (1879–1967), DBE, 1918 1959
Stella Schmolle (1908–1975)
Oil on canvas
H 88.9 x W 73.3 cm
National Army Museum

© the copyright holder. Image credit: National Army Museum
Edward Brian Seago (1910–1974)
Princess Mary, The Princess Royal (1897–1965), Controller Commandant, WRAC 1949
Edward Brian Seago (1910–1974)
Oil on canvas
H 101.5 x W 88.4 cm
National Army Museum

© Seago Estate, courtesy of Portland Gallery, London / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: National Army Museum
Alex Silbersdorf
A Captain of the Buffs (East Kent Regiment), as a Prisoner of War at Gütersloh Camp in Westphalia, Germany, 1916 1916
Alex Silbersdorf
Oil on canvas
H 52.5 x W 41.2 cm
National Army Museum

© the copyright holder. Image credit: National Army Museum
Jonathan Armigel Wade (b.1960)
Welcome to the Irish Republic, Sir! A British Infantry Patrol Lost on the Border with Northern Ireland 1988
Jonathan Armigel Wade (b.1960)
Oil on board
H 41 x W 61.2 cm
National Army Museum

© National Army Museum. Image credit: National Army Museum
Ethel Walker (1861–1951)
Convalescent Soldiers Arriving by Boat on the Thames, En Route for the Hospital in the Grounds at Cliveden, Berkshire 1917
Ethel Walker (1861–1951)
Oil on canvas
H 33 x W 54.4 cm
National Army Museum

Image credit: National Army Museum
Rex Whistler (1905–1944)
Rex Whistler’s Self-Portrait in Welsh Guards Uniform, May 1940 1940
Rex Whistler (1905–1944)
Oil on canvas
H 68.6 x W 55.9 cm
National Army Museum

Image credit: National Army Museum
Morris Meredith Williams (1881–1973)
Calonne, near Loos c.1918
Morris Meredith Williams (1881–1973)
Oil on board
H 30.3 x W 38.5 cm
National Army Museum

© the artist's estate. Image credit: National Army Museum
John Worsley (1919–2000)
Brigadier Peter Young, DSO, MC, No. 3 Commando 1945
John Worsley (1919–2000)
Oil on canvas
H 81.3 x W 62.5 cm
National Army Museum

© the artist's estate. Image credit: National Army Museum