In the Gun Factory at Woolwich Arsenal, 1918

Clausen was officially commissioned to paint on the theme of Britain’s Home Front munitions industries. The outcome was a single monumental work commemorating production at Britain’s largest munitions factory, Woolwich Arsenal.Ever fascinated by the effects of light, the high cathedral-like interior of the ‘gun factory’ offered great scope for Clausen’s impressionistic interest in light. His dramatic diagonal shafts of sunlight cut through the unnatural gloom and furnace heat of the workshop.