A Bofors Gun, Algiers

The Bofors gun is set at the entrance to the port of Algiers, with its crew in place. The first exhibition of war paintings at the National Gallery in London in July 1940 elicited complaints from Henry Carr that there were too many machines and not enough people, either portraits or troops in action. Ironically, this painting highlights the tension of describing mechanised warfare, for it is the gun that dominates the painting, with the soldiers reduced to being mere attendants.