Eggesford Studio has been looking for a contemporary military artist for some time to add to its portfolio. A selection of Douglas' work has been included in the Autumn (2013) Collection. Douglas paints from his experiences as a soldier serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. His expressionist style captures the scenes of both combat and " everyday" situations whilst on patrol, and walking among civilians. He masterfully evokes the discordance between the beauty of his surroundings and the harsh realities of war. Douglas' work has been recognised for its contemporary poignancy by the National Army Museum which has chosen Pump House Contact as one of its top ten favourite paintings.
Pump House Contact, East Kabul, Afghanistan, 2002 (right). In this night-time scene, a platoon from 2 PARA fires on Taleban members hidden in some buildings on the outskirts of Kabul. As a military term, contact means an engagement where live ammunition is fired, here demonstrated by the red tracer rounds. The area is illuminated by handheld flares set off by the platoon.
On this particular night, covert Observation Posts (OPs) had already reported heavy gunfire in the area and as the PARAs approached, insurgents opened fire on them. The soldiers returned fire, pinning down their attackers. This enabled a flanking unit to move in aided by the Afghan Police and two insurgents were captured. There were no casualties.
The incident was part of Operation WOLF PACK organised to ‘find, fix and detain’ insurgents in Kabul while incurring minimal risk to soldiers. It was planned and executed by Sergeant Major Farthing, for which he was awarded the MBE.
The National Army Museum’s oil paintings are the latest collection to go online as part of 'Your Paintings', an ambitious joint initiative between the Public Catalogue Foundation, the BBC and participating collections and museums from across the UK.
The Museum’s 643 unique oil paintings form the latest contribution to the 'Your Paintings' web site. The aim of this project is to make all the oil paintings in the UK's public collections available for people throughout the world to learn from and explore.
To celebrate this great digital achievement, National Army Museum curators have selected and interpreted their ten favourite paintings. These represent the breadth of the Collection and highlight remarkable people and events in the history of the British Army, both at home and across the globe.
© Douglas Farthing MBE • 2009 All Rights Reserved • Development by •