Art Funded by you

Wounded Horses Returning from the Front, France, 1918

Algernon Talmage, 1918

Algernon Talmage, Wounded Horses Returning from the Front, France, 1918, National Army Museum, Art Funded 2021
Courtesy National Army Museum

Algernon Talmage painted this touching scene of wounded horses in France in his role as an official artist during the First World War.

He had been commissioned by the Canadian War Memorials Fund and was attached to the Canadian Army Veterinary Corps. 

Talmage’s painting shows the work of Canadian soldiers at one of the mobile units that were set up by the Corps to give first aid to wounded, sick or overworked horses. This may be the original painting of the subject exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1919, before 

Talmage completed the larger version of the work that now hangs in the Canadian Senate Chamber in Ottawa. Talmage trained at the Herkomer School of Art in Bushey and was known for his vivid, Impressionist-style paintings. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy in London and was elected an Academician in 1929. 

The acquisition of Wounded Horses Returning From the Front increases the representation of Commonwealth soldiers at the National Army Museum and also serves to illustrate the vital role played by horses in the First World War. 

More information

Title of artwork, date

Wounded Horses Returning from the Front, France, 1918, 1918

Date supported

2021

Medium and material

Oil

Dimensions

76.2 x 107.95 cm

Total cost

31500

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