The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Building Aircraft: Making the Engine

Building Aircraft: Making the Engine

1917
(British, 1889–1946)
England, 20th century
lithograph on wove paper
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.)
Anne Elizabeth Wilson Memorial Fund 2018.298
Location: not on view

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.
  • 2018
    Catherine Burns Fine Art, Berkeley, CA
    December 3, 2018
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Black, Jonathan. “Beauty, Rhythm, Strength: C.R.W. Nevinson as a Printmaker, ca. 1916-32,” in A Dilemma of English Modernism: Visual and Verbal Politics in the Life and Work of C.R.W. Nevinson (1889-1946), ed. Michael J.K. Walsh (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2007) p. 118
    Black, Jonathan, and C. R. W. Nevinson. C.R.W. Nevinson: The Complete Prints. 2014. p. 26, 120-121, no. 166, ill
    Black, Jonathan. “’The Human Element’: The Contribution of C.R.W. Nevinson and Eric Kennington to the Britain’s Efforts and Ideals Lithographic Project of 1917,” in Burning Bright: Essays in Honor of David Bindman, ed. Diana Dethloff, Tessa Murdoch, Kim Sloan, and Caroline Elam (London: University College London Press, 2015) p. 234-242, ill. p. 238
    Great Britain, and Christian Brinton. War Paintings & Drawings by British Artists, Exhibited Under the Auspices of the Ministry of Information, London. [New York]: [Redfield-Kendrick-Odell Company, Inc.], 1919. p. 46, no. 121, ill. p. 127
    C.R.W. Nevinson: The Twentieth Century, and Richard Ingleby. C.R.W. Nevinson, the Twentieth Century. London: Merrell Holberton in association with the Imperial War Museum, 1999. p. 56, no. 57, ill. p. 115
    Ackley, Clifford S., and Stephen Coppel. Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints, 1914-1939. Boston: MFA Publications, 2008. p. 132, 217, no. 73, ill. p. 137
  • {{cite web|title=Building Aircraft: Making the Engine|url=false|author=Christopher Nevinson|year=1917|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.298