Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1940

Date Range To

1948

Materials

WOOD, CARD, TWINE

No. Pieces

1

Height

3.4

Length

97.6

Width

82.6

Description

PAINTING ON HEAVY CARD. HAS A WOOD FRAME. FRAME HAS A CONCAVE SHAPE TO IT; UNPAINTED EXCEPT FOR INSIDE EDGE WHICH IS PAINTED GOLD. FRAME IS COMING APART AT CORNERS. THE WORK HAS A LIGHT GREYISH GREEN BACKGROUND UPON WHICH IS PAINTED THE UPPER HALF OF A MAN KNOWN. THE MAN - RENOWN IN THE COMMONWEALTH AND NORTH AMERICA AS 'OLD BILL' IS WEARING A BLUE NEWSBOY STYLE CAP AND A RED SCARF. HE ALSO HAS A LARGE BLACK MOUSTACHE AND IS HOLDING A BUCKET(?). ON UPPER LEFT CORNER READS " 'ULLO!". BOTTOM OF PAINTING IS SIGNED BUT IS ILLEGIBLE. LOOKS AS IF PAINTING HAS BEEN WET, THERE ARE LARGE TIDE LINES THROUGHOUT PAINTING. HAS WOOD ON BACK AND TWINE STAPLED TO THE WOOD. "LEGION" IS WRITTEN IN BLACK FELT PEN ON BACK OF FRAME.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

MILITARY

FINE ARTS

History

FRAMED WORK DISCOVERED IN SECOND FLOOR STORAGE AREA OF LETHBRIDGE MAYOR MAGRATH LEGION. FOLLOWING ITS REMOVAL, MUSEUM TECH KEVIN MACLEAN ENQUIRED INTO THE ITS ORIGINS, ASKING MULTIPLE WWII-ERA VETS/LEGION MEMBERS IF THEY COULD RECALL THE PAINTING’S HISTORICAL EXISTENCE OR USE IN THE LEGION, WITHOUT SUCCESS. THIS ‘OLD BILL’ PAINTING WAS PRODUCED BY THE FAMOUS BRITISH WWI CARTOONIST BRUCE BAIRNSFATHER. THE ARTIST TRAVELLED EXSTENSIVELY AFTER THE WAR AND IS KNOWN TO HAVE VISITED LETHBRIDGE IN 1920, 1940 AND 1948. IT IS PRESUMED THAT HE CREATED THE WORK LOCALLY DURING ONE OF HIS VISITS AT THE REQUEST OF, OR IN HONOUR OF, THE CITY’S WWI VETS. THE PAINTING WAS DISPLAYED PROMENENTLY WHEN THE LETHBRIDGE VIMY VETS CELEBRATED THEIR ANNUAL VIMY NIGHT AT THE LEGION. THE PAINTING IS SEEN IN USE DURING THE VETS' APRIL VIMY COMMEMORATIONS VIA HERALD AND LEGION PHOTOGRAPHS THROUGHOUT THE 60S AND 70S (P20001092002 LETHBRIDGE HERALD COLLECTION IN ARCHIVES). SEE P19970073015-GA FOR LEGION HISTORY. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR RELATED DOCUMENTATION RELATED TO THE WORK AND BAIRNSFATHER’S LETHBRIDGE VISITS. SEE FILE ALSO FOR PERIOD PHOTO OF PAINTING AT LEGION, CIRCA 1975 ON DVD DISC. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY ON THE ARTIST, BRUCE BAIRNSFATHER, WAS DEVELOPED WITH INFORMATION FROM SPARTACUS EDUCATIONAL ONLINE: BRUCE BAIRNSFATHER WAS BORN IN MURREE IN THE PUNJAB PROVINCE OF PAKISTAN ON JULY 9, 1888. HIS FATHER, THOMAS BAIRNSFATHER, WAS A LIEUTENANT IN THE BENGAL INFANTRY. HE ATTENDED SCHOOL IN INDIA AND STRATFORD-UPON-AVON. BAIRNSFATHER INITIALLY JOINED THE BRITISH ARMY WHEN HE CAME OF AGE, BUT FOUND ARMY LIFE BORING AND ENROLLED AT THE HASSALL SCHOOL OF ART. AFTER GRADUATING HE WORKED IN ADVERTISING, PRODUCING POSTERS FOR PRODUCTS INCLUDING LIPTON TEA, PLAYER'S TOBACCO, BEECHAMS AND FLOWERS BEER. AT THE ONSET OF WWI BAIRNSFATHER REJOINED THE ROYAL WARWICKSHIRE REGIMENT AND WAS PROMOTED TO LIEUTENANT. HE WAS PUT IN CHARGE OR A MAXIM MACHINE GUN SECTION, AND SAW ACTION ON THE WESTERN FRONT. BAIRNSFATHER WAS SO SHOCKED BY TRENCH LIFE HE REFUSED TO TAKE LEAVE, FEARING THAT ONCE HE LEFT, IT WOULD BE TOO DIFFICULT TO RETURN. DURING THE CHRISTMAS OF 1914, HE WAS NEARLY COURT-MARTIALED AFTER JOINING GERMAN SOLDIERS IN WHAT LATER BECAME KNOWN AS THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE. WHILE ON THE WESTERN FRONT, BAIRNSFATHER DREW PICTURES OF TRENCH LIFE THAT WERE PUBLISHED IN THE BYSTANDER MAGAZINE. IN 1915, DURING THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES, HE WAS EXPOSED TO CHLORINE GAS AND WOUNDED BY A SHELL EXPLOSION. DURING HIS CONVALESCENCE AT LONDON GENERAL HOSPITAL, BAIRNSFATHER PRODUCED WEEKLY DRAWINGS FOR THE BYSTANDER, WHICH WERE LATER INCLUDED IN HIS BOOK SERIES CALLED 'FRAGMENTS FROM FRANCE'. AFTER REGAINING HIS HEALTH, CAPTAIN BAIRNSFATHER WAS SENT TO TRAIN NEW RECRUITS ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT. DURING THIS PERIOD, HE CREATED HIS SIGNATURE CARTOON CHARACTER, OLD BILL. HIS CARTOONS WERE EXTREMELY POPULAR WITH SOLDIERS IN THE TRENCHES, AND OLD BILL APPEARED IN MANY FORMS, INCLUDING PLAYS, MUSICALS, FEATURE FILMS, COMIC STRIPS, AND ON POTTERY, PLAYING CARDS, POSTCARDS AND OTHER MERCHANDISE. AFTER THE WAR, BAIRNSFATHER TOURED ON THE SUCCESS OF OLD BILL, VISITING VETERAN'S LEGIONS ACROSS NORTH AMERICA. DURING WWII HE WAS APPOINTED AS AN OFFICIAL CARTOONIST TO THE AMERICAN FORCES IN EUROPE. BRUCE BAIRNSFATHER DIED OF COMPLICATIONS RESULTING FROM CANCER TREATMENTS ON SEPTEMBER 29, 1959. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARDCOPY OF BAIRNSFATHER'S BIOGRAPHY AND EXCERPTS FROM HIS BOOK 'BULLETS AND BILLETS' (1916) AND HIS RECOLLECTIONS ON THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE AND THE BATTLE AT YPRES.

Catalogue Number

P20000047006

Acquisition Date

2000-12

Collection

Museum

Less detail