April 25th – to Remind, to Remember 1979

Summary

This oil on canvas by Tom Bamber came into the collection through the Lord Mayor’s Acquisitive Art Award in 1979. An expressively rendered assemblage of servicemen, the painting depicts both those who did not return from battle and the awarded ex-servicemen who march in remembrance of them on 25 April each year. The artist has portrayed himself within the composition, suggesting his closeness to the topic, but just which figure he is we are not certain. Interestingly, this work, made within five years of the end of the Vietnam War, was awarded at a time when military commemoration was fraught and did not command the open public embrace that it does today.