Ellen Cicely Wilkinson
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Ellen Cicely Wilkinson
by Elliott & Fry
half-plate negative, 4 June 1940
Purchased, 1996
Photographs Collection
NPG x82075
Sitterback to top
- Ellen Cicely Wilkinson (1891-1947), Labour politician; MP for Middlesbrough East and Jarrow, Minister for Education and Parliamentary Private Secretary. Sitter in 33 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Elliott & Fry (active 1863-1962), Photographers. Artist or producer associated with 10998 portraits.
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- Great British Composers: From Elgar to Adès (27 April 2010 - 12 December 2010)
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.Comments back to top
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