Tempera on wood
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-armstrong-665" aria-label="More by John Armstrong" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">John Armstrong</a>
Coggeshall Church Essex
Presented by the War Artists Advisory Committee 1946
air raid
architecture
bomb damage
church
Coggeshall
England
England, East
Essex
features
fine arts and music
Gothic
graveyard
history
home front
instrument, bell
medieval
military: World War II
objects
periods and styles
places
religious
religious
ruins
tower
townscapes / man-made features
UK cities, towns and villages
UK counties
UK countries and regions
<p>This painting records the peculiar damage inflicted on a church in the village of Coggeshall in Essex, near the artist’s home. It recalls, however, images John Armstrong made in the 1930s in which ruined buildings served as symbols for political violence such as the Spanish Civil War. This was made as part of the artist’s work as an official war artist and it may be that the structure of the building that is revealed intact beneath the stonework is a symbol of resilience at a time of threat.</p><p><em>Gallery label, May 2007</em></p>
painting tempera wood
23 December 2006 – 2 March 2008
2008-03-02
23 December 2006 – 2 March 2008
2008-03-02
2006-12-23
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2006-12-23
Devastation
Collection based display
4 March 2014 – 18 May 2014
2014-05-18
4 March 2014 – 18 May 2014
2014-05-18
2014-03-04
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2014-03-04
Ruin Lust
Exhibition
5 June 2017 – 25 November 2017
2017-11-25
5 June 2017 – 3 September 2017
2017-09-03
2017-06-05
Atkinson Art Gallery (Southport, UK)
16 September 2017 – 25 November 2017
2017-11-25
2017-09-16
Penlee House Gallery & Museum (Penzance, UK)
2017-06-05
John Armstrong: Dream and Reality
Loan-out
Coggeshall Church, Essex
support: 571 × 381 mm
Presented by the War Artists Advisory Committee 1946
<p>This painting records the peculiar damage inflicted on a church in the village of Coggeshall in Essex, near the artist’s home. It recalls, however, images John Armstrong made in the 1930s in which ruined buildings served as symbols for political violence such as the Spanish Civil War. This was made as part of the artist’s work as an official war artist and it may be that the structure of the building that is revealed intact beneath the stonework is a symbol of resilience at a time of threat.</p>

Display caption
2007-05-03T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N05675</b> COGGESHALL CHURCH, ESSEX 1940
<br/> 
<br/>Inscr. ‘JA [in monogram] 40’ b.r.
<br/>Tempera on wood, 22 1/2×15 (57×38).
<br/>Presented by the War Artists' Advisory Committee 1946.
<br/><i>Exh:</i> <i>National War Pictures</i>, National Gallery, 1943 (no catalogue).
<br/><i>Repr:</i> John Rothenstein, <i>The Tate Gallery</i>, 1962, p.258.</p>
<p>The artist recalled that he had heard of the peculiar result of the bomb on the tower of Coggeshall Church, and had suggested the subject to the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/w/war-artists" title="Glossary definition for 'War Artists'"><span>War Artists' Advisory Committee</span></a>, who agreed to commission him to paint the picture. When on exhibition in the provinces the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> was itself damaged by bomb splinters and afterwards sent to the artist for repair.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, I</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-08T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
air raid architecture bomb damage church Coggeshall England England, East Essex features fine arts and music Gothic graveyard history home front instrument, bell medieval military: World War II objects periods and styles places religious religious ruins tower townscapes / man-made features UK cities, towns and villages UK counties UK countries and regions