The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

People in Underground, World War II

1944

Bill Brandt

(British, 1904–1983)
England
gelatin silver print
Image: 34.3 x 28.6 cm (13 1/2 x 11 1/4 in.); Mounted: 63.5 x 53.3 cm (25 x 21 in.)
Gift of Carl and Joan Schneider 2021.221
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

When German aircraft bombed London in World War II, subway stations were used as shelters.

Description

During World War II, the British Ministry of Information commissioned BillBrandt and Henry Moore to depict the stoicism of the British people in the face of German bombings. Both artists chose to represent people sleeping in the Tube stations during the air raids. Brandt’s photographs and Moore’s drawings share an eerie resemblance. Compare the two by looking up Moore’s In the Shelters, 1941 (1972.234).
  • ?-2021
    Carl and Joan Schneider, Whitmore Lake, MI
    December 6, 2021
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=People in Underground, World War II|url=false|author=Bill Brandt|year=1944|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2021.221