TO PAINT A WAR

Australian artists were at the heart of some of the most memorable paintings depicting the “Great (1914-1918) War”. Illustrating from the home front, Grace Cossington Smith painted The Sock Knitter of her sister Madge stitching socks for troops, and Reinforcements: Troops Marching In. “It reflects no credit on the art cognoscenti of Sydney that they allowed such a wonderful artist to fly below the radar for most of her long life,” observes the author. “Grace Cossington Smith showed that it was possible to paint wartime subjects from the comfort of a studio in Australia.”