Angus McBean

© estate of Angus McBean / National Portrait Gallery, London

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Angus McBean

by Angus McBean
vintage bromide print, circa 1940
11 5/8 in. x 13 3/8 in. (295 mm x 340 mm)
Purchased, 1995
Primary Collection
NPG P618

Sitterback to top

  • Angus McBean (1904-1990), Photographer. Sitter in 79 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 283 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Angus McBean (1904-1990), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 283 portraits, Sitter in 79 portraits.

This portraitback to top

The double image of himself is characteristic of numerous self-portraits he took, many of which were used on his Christmas cards.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Pepper, Terence, Angus McBean Portraits, 2006 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 July to 22 October 2006), p. 118 Read entry

    Using a double exposure, McBean imitates the two figures in a Swiss weather house, with the coatless figure coming out and the other one staying inside. The golden wooden putto looks beatifically down on him, while the imaginary landscapes at the side are the result of his collaboration with the artist Roy Hobdell.

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 1940back to top

Current affairs

Following the German invasion of the Netherlands, Belgium and France, Neville Chamberlain resigns and Churchill is appointed Prime Minister making the famous speech: 'I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.'
The Battle of Britain ends the Phoney War with Germany's attack on the nation from the air. Britain's cities, airbases and ports are bombed during the Blitz.

Art and science

With little access to sculpture materials, and a bombed out studio Henry Moore starts experimenting with drawings of war subjects. After taking shelter in a London Underground station during an air raid Moore was inspired to begin a series of Shelter Drawings. With a commission from the War Artists Advisory Committee, headed by Kenneth Clark, these became some of the most popular example of official war art.

International

Britain's attempt to defend France against German invasion by landing troops on the French coast ends in failure; France surrenders and Britain is left to face the Axis Powers alone. While the Dunkirk Landings were a failure, the heroic rescue of troops by a fleet of English civilian boats was a victory for morale, and the 'Dunkirk Spirit' came to stand as an emblem of British triumph in adversity.

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