“Light Coastal Forces Blow up an Enemy Merchantman” – Richard Eurich

http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/artwar/artworks/19710261-6082_coastal-force-belowup-enemy_e.shtml

1. What aspect of war, or event, does this piece of art depict?

The painting “Light costal forces blow up an enemy merchantman” by Richard Eurich depicts that the costal force destroyed an enemy merchantman during World War Ⅱ. Richard Eurich uses many different colours to illustrate how terrible the explosion was. As the painting shows the extreme explosion/flames with light colours in contrast with the dark colours, it can explain that the costal force aimed and approached the small enemy merchant ship to destroy it at night because this darkness allowed the naval ship to do such an extreme attack. The flames are expanding to the left very widely in the dark sky, depicting that this crash was terrible and extremely strong. We can tell that the coastal force attacked and crushed into the enemy merchantman at quite high speed. The darkness allowed the coastal force to approach the enemy at such a high speed because it was hard for enemy to see the sky and sea clearly in the darkness.

2. Who created this piece of art?

The piece entitled ‘Light coastal forces blow up an enemy merchantman’ was painted by Richard Eurich. Richard Eurich was a British painter of German descent. He was born in Bradford, Yorkshire in 1903. Eurich attended the Bradford School for Arts and Crafts in 1922 until 1924 before moving on to attend the Slade School in London until 1927. Richard Eurich was to become the first one person show at the Goupil Gallery in London, which was a branch of the French Goupil & Co. publishing firm. The winter of 1932-33 was spent painting at Lyme Regis and 1933 began the first of sixteen exhibitions at the Redfern Gallery in London.
Richard Eurich’s marriage to Mavis Pope in 1934 saw them move to Dibden Purlieu in Hampshire, at the edge of the New Forest in England. Their home ‘Appletreewick’ was to become Eurich’s retreat. Eurich’s first son was born the next year and in 1937, Eurich’s work was first exhibited at The Royal Academy. By 1940, Richard Eurich’s first commission by the War Artists Advisory Committee came for two paintings. Between the years of 1941 and 1945, he received an honorary commission as a Captain in the Royal Marines to work as an official war artist. Following the war, Eurich taught at the Camberwell Art School from 1949 to 1967 before returning to Bradford in 1951 for an exhibition at Cartwright Hall. His work was exhibited at the Imperial War Museum a year before his death in 1992.

3. Where was this piece of art created?

Though “Light costal forces blow up and enemy merchantman” was commissioned in Britain, by a British painter [Richard Eurich] in 1943, it was still given to Canada after the war was over. The painting was painted in Britain, but the artist Richard Eurich, never actually saw the event, but from photographs and first hand interviews he interpreted. (Canadian Artist Richard Eurich) According to “Peyton Skipwith [who] noted that the artist “did not witness in person the great events [of war] which he recorded so passionately and dramatically, but with his knowledge of the ‘structure’ of the sea, combined with sketches made whilst travelling along the Franco-Belgian coast, eye-witness accounts and photographs, he was able, quickly and masterfully, to interpret these scenes not only as great art, but in a manner that convinced those who had participated in their absolute veracity.”” (Exhibition Theme-Battle) Since Eurich travelled along the coastline of France and Belgium, and was the Official War Artist to the Admiralty during the war, all that could be found was that he painted the painting in 1943, and he travelled along the Franco-Belgian coastline he gathered inspiration. He made the sketches along the coastline according to Peyton Skipwith, so the painting was most likely painted in Britain, though it could have been created while he was on the road, but that is not as likely.

4. For what purpose was this art created?

“Light coastal forces blow up an enemy merchantman” by Richard Eurich is a painting portraying just that. The use of stark contrast between the darkness of the sky and the sea with the bright oranges and white of the explosion focuses the viewer on the magnitude of such an event. Despite not having seen an event like the one depicted in the painting, Eurich gives the painting profound purpose through both the painting itself and the title. Within the painting, there is no clear national identity to either ship. This suggests that both sides were capable of committing such terrible acts against the other. Within the title, Eurich states that the ship that was blown up was an “enemy merchantman”. This suggests that not only military naval ships were under threats of attack, but also civilian ships. The purpose of this piece of art is to display the horrors of war on both militia and civilians, and that these horrors were experienced by both sides.

5. What does this piece of art tell us about the experience of war?

This painting, much like Churchman’s painting of World War One, uses bursts of colour against a dark canvas of night to portray the explosions and fire of war. This particular painting is a depiction of sea-based attack. As detection was more difficult during the night, this is when many attacks would happen, giving the offensive the advantage. Although this painting does not show individuals and ergo cannot be used to derive individual experience, more general meaning and feeling can be taken from it. The artist did this painting without much detail work, which can be interpreted as telling the audience about the experience of war; the details of life and individuals were overshadowed by explosions, and the mass onslaught of battle. The title of the painting indicates that it was not a warship that was attacked, but a merchant ship. This tells us two important things about wartime experience: that nobody was impervious to attack, and that goods brought on merchant ships were scarce (as many were targets for attack). Additionally, the war itself put a strain on goods, so any loss of merchant transport vehicles depleted an already minimal supply. These two limitations in conjuncture made for a poor quality of life for the average citizen during wartime.

6. How accurate is this depiction of war?

Richard Eurich was not actually a witness to the events of which he painted. Eurich combined knowledge of the often attacked merchantmen vessels which were big and were poorly equipped for war. Eurich combined his knowledge with previous sketches made while travelling along the Franco-Belgian coast, and eye-witness accounts and photographs in order to make this painting so accurate. Euirch shows in his painting an enemy merchantman’s ship that were often attacked by torpedos. This picture is an accurate depiction as the explosion of a big ship would definitely light up the sky as the picture shows. Also, similar to the J.A. Churchman painting, this attack was made at night as it was the best time to attack since visibility was low. Richard Eurich’s painting accurately depicts an attacked vessel and was so accurate that the British War Artists Advisory Committee gave this painting to Canada after the war.

7. How does your piece of art further our understanding of Canadian history?

Though this piece was painted by someone from Britian and later given to Canada, it still shows how other countries (especially allies), viewed battles on the war front. Taking into account Eurich’s travel experience, as well as his sketches based on numerous accounts from soldiers, we can deduce that his art is not limited to the confines of British knowledge or interpretation. He was able to combine his own feelings and notions of war with the first-hand accounts that he heard from soldiers to create a piece which, while not necessarily accurate technically, effectively captured the emotions of the time. This helps us to gain a greater understanding of Canadian history because it shows how the allies saw the war effort, and how the investigative process helped shape a painting collectively.
Both of these pieces were painted at night, which we found was important because it rejects the typical notion that battles primarily took place during the day. Raids and battles carried on into the night, and in all kinds of conditions during both World War I and World War II.