Artwork Page for Building Aircraft: Making the Engine

Details / Information for Building Aircraft: Making the Engine

Series Title: The Great War: Britain's Efforts and Ideals

Building Aircraft: Making the Engine

1917

Christopher Nevinson

(British, 1889–1946)
Culture
England, 20th century
Medium
lithograph on wove paper
Measurements
Image: 40 x 30.1 cm (15 3/4 x 11 7/8 in.); Sheet: 50.8 x 38.3 cm (20 x 15 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Anne Elizabeth Wilson Memorial Fund 2018.298
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

This print belongs to a series commissioned by England’s Bureau of Information during World War I.

Description

The British government commissioned Christopher Nevinson to create this print, part of a series of six, during World War I. By depicting the manufacture and use of airplanes in England, Nevinson represented the motivations and goals of war to a broad public. This image emphasizes the intense focus and strength required to build an engine. Diagonals and geometric shapes throughout suggest the efficiency and velocity of modern manufacturing.
A vertically oriented lithograph in black ink depicts three men with light skin tones within a dense industrial workshop. In the center, one man wearing a cap and overalls operates machinery. To our left, another person peers from behind a broad diagonal belt while a third stands further back. Heavy, overlapping strokes and crisscrossing belts texture the composition, creating high contrast and a fractured, rhythmic sense of mechanical movement.

Building Aircraft: Making the Engine

1917

Christopher Nevinson

(British, 1889–1946)
England, 20th century

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