Art work by Richard Eurich D.Litt. RA OBE (1903-1992) Catalogue Raisonnée: https://richardeurich.co.uk/. Contact: Philippa Bambach 07890 390633 — Photo: Paul Carter / Richard Eurich Paintings

Barrage Balloons

1940

oil on panel

21.2h x 62.5w (cm)

Private Collection (UK)

Wartime

Landscapes | Gardens

Seascapes | Coastal Scenes

Panoramas

Bonfires | Flames | Smoke

Recto: signed and dated lower left: R. EURICH. 1940.

Verso: Transnational Arts label with title "Barrage Balloons"; label with inscription "Barrage balloon defences over Southampton Water during the Great War 1939 – 1945. Richard Eurich RA was War Artist to the Admiralty 1941 – 1945".

Alternatives:

Barrage balloon defences over Southampton Water during the Great War 1939 – 1945 [verso]

20h x 61w [Christie's]

19h x 61w [Osborne Samuel]

Tags:

Bonfires / Flames / Smoke

England

Hampshire

Hythe

Landscapes / Gardens

Motifs

Panoramas

Seascapes / Coastal Scenes

Sets

Southampton Water

The South

Themes

Wartime

Subject

Flag

Royal Navy

aeroplane

airplane

barrage balloons

boats

bonfires

camouflaged

car

cranes

docks

evening light

figures in a landscape

hangers

military

motorboats

naval ship

plane

port

ships

slipway

smoke

soldiers

steamer

stubble

uniforms

war

wartime

windy

Medium

Oil

This painting was Richard’s first ‘War’ painting done for his own interest and not commissioned by the WAAC. It depicts a small hangar in Hythe on Southampton Water next to the Power Boat Company. The late afternoon light is making all the colours rich. The Water is busy with a range of shipping and the barrage balloons look like a birthday party celebration rather than preparation for invasion.

This picture demonstrates Richard’s prodigious visual memory as he was not allowed to make any notes of this ‘sensitive information’.

- Philippa Bambach

Richard painted two more paintings set in Hythe after he was appointed an official war artist at the end of 1940 - A Motor Boat of the British Power Boat Company, Hythe (1941) and The British Power Boat Company (1941).

- REP / PC

Provenance & Events

IN COLLECTION • [date unknown]

in same private collection for over 30 years

AUCTION • 13th Jun 1980

"[title unknown]"

Christie's

Lot 152

WITH • 2016

Osborne Samuel

IN COLLECTION • 2018

Private Collection (UK)

Related Works

A Motor Boat of the British Power Boat Company, Hythe (1941)

The British Power Boat Company (1941)