Women and Children in the Tube--Chandler See
Throughout World War Two, people in London, England were subjected to the harsh reality of the German Luftwaffe bombing their city. The bombings killed anyone who was on the streets. To escape the carnage people in London sought refuge under the ground in the subway system of the city. Because World War Two saw a lot of damage to the above ground London area, the local residents of London had to go underground to survive untill the war was over.
The Artist, Henry Spencer Moore, was born in Castleford, England in 1898. Moore, a combat vertern of the first world war, went to the Leeds School of Art and later the Royal College of art in London, England. By this time Moore had begun receiving many international art commissions, where he worked in sculpture, drawing, and textile design. Moore made many arts depicting post-war modernism, which, unlike this chalk drawing, is why most of his artwork is abstract sculptures. Moore ultimately died in 1986 leaving behind many artistic works of the war.
The artwork shows women and children on the tube outlined in chalk. This signifies that most the men are off at war and women and children are the main people left on the British island during the war. In the artwork the chalk outlines a vauge train station and women and children sitting down. While the first few women and children are clearly sketched out the further back in the artwork the more vauge they become. This could signify just how many people had to go underground during the war for safety.
Throughout class we have discussed collateral damage and the death of civilians during times of war. While this artwork does not directly show civilians dying, the context of this piece is what makes it a terrifying display of how civilians were treated during World War Two, and how they had to huddle underground just to escape death.