Stanhope Forbes: The Munitions Girls, 1918

image courtesy of Wellcome Library, London

Stanhope Forbes (1857-1947) was an artist and a founding member of the influential Newlyn school of painters,and was often called 'the father of the Newlyn School'. He went to Brittany in 1881 with fellow artist La Thangue, and his time in France brought him into contact with the new plein air painters, which was to significantly influence his style.

Forbes arrived in Newlyn in 1884 and soon became a leading figure in the growing colony of artists in the area. His national reputation was soon established with an exhibition of his works in 1885 at the Royal Academy in London. Along with his wife Elizabeth he founded their School of Painting in 1899, which attracted a new generation of artists to the area  including Ernest Procter and his future wife Doris Dod Shaw.

The Munitions Girls was commissioned by John Baker & Co, and shows women working at Kilnhurst Steelworks during the First World War. Like many other steelworks during the war, John Baker & Co’s Kilnhurst site was converted to make shells and ammunition. As men volunteered or were conscripted to fight in the British Army, women became the main work force in industry and farming. Munitions workers could often be picked out in a crowd because of the distinctive yellow colouring of their hair and skin caused by the sulphur used in production. They were nicknamed ‘canaries’.

the above text appears on the back of the card
HC-1234: card size 7" x 5" (178mm x 131mm)