James Boswell

Sketchbook with drawings of Iraq and studies of Europa

[c.1943]

Front cover

The cover has a label that reads: 'IRAQ 1943/4 / Europa'.

Created by
James Boswell 1906–1971
Date
[c.1943]
Dimensions
230 x 152 mm
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James Boswell, ‘Front cover’ [c.1943]

© The Estate of James Boswell

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In Tate Britain

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Created by
James Boswell 1906–1971
Title
Sketchbook with drawings of Iraq and studies of Europa
Date
[c.1943]
Format
Bound volume - sketchbook
Collection
Tate Archive
Acquisition
Presented by Ruth Boswell, the artist's widow in 1982
Reference
TGA 8224/19

Description

Ink, crayon, graphite and watercolour on paper, 230 x 152 mm

Page 1, two studies of a man with a chain through his head
Page 2, night scene of policemen quelling a demonstration
Page 3, two figures with human bodies but horses' heads fighting
Page 4, soldier being forced to his knees by a bull-headed officer while a priest with a bull's head rams a cross down his throat
Page 5, cartoon showing three officers watching a bull swallowing a book of army rules
Page 6, standing man confined in a small pen
Page 7, Europa riding on the back of a bull who is wearing a military cap, inscribed 'Europa'
Page 8, headless man torturing a naked kneeling prisoner
Page 9, surrealist cartoon of a dismembered and decapitated officer rising into the air from a heap of ruins
Page 10, two studies of a man with bulging eyes and one of the head of a calf and a woman
Page 11, giant male torso with various weapons issuing from it
Page 12, naked Europa wearing a coronet riding a bull wearing a general's helmet with background of burning buildings
Page 13, head and shoulders of a dead man within ruins in the background
Page 14, top, figure which is half bull and half man with female legs wrapped round him
Page 14, bottom, study of a man with aeroplane and machinery coming out of his body
Page 15, scarecrow with a bull's skull stabbing a naked woman
Page 16, naked man lying on his back holding back a large arm which is growing out of his stomach and trying to strangle him
Page 17, three soldiers standing behind barbed wire
Page 18, notes about the surroundings and the lives of the soldiers
Page 19, blank
Page 20, written description of the landscape at night
Page 21, three standing figures watching a man about to carve a piece of meat with a hatchet
Page 22, giant soldier breaking off trees
Page 23, blank
Page 24, notes on his surroundings and slight sketch of a man holding an axe
Page 25, three men trying to climb a wall
Page 26, wooden structure like a scarecrow covered with small figures
Page 27, erotic drawing of two dwarfs and a woman
Page 28, wooden structure made of poles and planks supporting various figures
Page 29, naked woman whipping a naked man
Page 30, standing nude woman with men's faces etched on her buttocks and her left breast
Page 31, abstract design made of dots and dashes
Page 32, kneeling woman performing oral sex with a standing male figure
Pages 33-48, blank

Artists’ International Association British Surrealism British War Art London Group Realism Surrealism

Archive context

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