Tank 1917

James McBey made this watercolour painting, Tank, with delicate, translucent washes and thin, wiry lines. The making of a painting is a process, like war itself - it's about movement, decision making and covering ground. The texture of the watercolour paper is visible through the thin paint, and this gives the whole picture a kind of ephemeral, misty atmosphere. Look at the bottom right of the painting: see how McBey has created a sense of depth by layering thin washes of brown and grey, one over the other? The tank itself is perched on top of the hill like a monstrous insect, and McBey has used a dry brush technique to suggest the dust and smoke billowing around it. I’m reminded of some of Paul Nash’s war paintings, where he captured the bleakness and desolation of the Western Front. Like Nash, McBey encourages us to contemplate the human cost of war and the way in which it transforms the landscape. Ultimately, this painting is about destruction and disruption, and the way in which war can overturn our understanding of the world.