Description

This book is part of the centenary celebration of James Boswell's (1906-1971) birth. His work is being honoured by displays at Tate Britain, the Prints and Drawings Gallery at the British Museum and a one man retrospective at Square One Gallery, London. One of its most salient features is a remarkably prophetic set of anti-war satirical drawings done during Boswell's 1943 posting to Iraq. Richard Cork has said of these, 'I know of no parallel in English art for Boswell's ability to expose and denigrate the senseless waste of a conflict which official war artists approached with such muted emotions. Their relevance to today's conflict is poignant'. Boswell, a New Zealander who came to England in 1925 to study painting, was soon involved in the radical movement of the Left and became, throughout the thirties, its most vibrant artist with fierce satirical drawings that appeared in Left Review, of which he was Art Editor, Our Time, The Daily Worker and other left wing publications. He was also a