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View by appointment- Created by
- James Boswell 1906–1971
- Title
- Sketchbook with drawings of Iraq and Malta
- Date
- 1943
- Format
- Bound volume - sketchbook
- Collection
- Tate Archive
- Acquisition
- Presented by Ruth Boswell, the artist's widow in 1982
- Reference
- TGA 8224/18
Description
Ink, crayon, graphite and watercolour on paper, 208 × 269 mm
Page 1, Boswell's name and address and '1943'
Page 2, exterior of army canteen
Page 3, soldiers looking at an X-ray plate
Page 4, soldiers looking at an X-ray plate. Similar to page 3 but a more finished drawing
Page 5, outdoor scene with low buildings, a tent, a lorry and an Arab stacking bricks, signed and dated 1943, and titled on the back 'The Mortuary'
Page 6, group of soldiers gathered around the open door of a hut with a dog scavenging among rubbish
Page 7, army huts with washing line
Page 8, ruined walls of a house
Page 9, left, an Arabian building kitchen beyond
Page 9, centre, back view of a man wearing shorts
Page 9, right, head of a man smoking a cigarette
Page 10, army lorry on the road to the 'Heat Stroke Centre'
Page 11, soldiers in a changing room, inscribed on back 'Showerbaths [sic]'
Page 12, standing Arab man with a gun over his shoulder, inscribed 'Chowkidar'
Page 13, operating theatre with two surgeons and a nurse operating on a patient's leg, inscribed 'Steinman pin going in'
Page 14, back and page 15, back, sick bay on board a ship, with sleeping figures
Page 16, four men standing by a large vat; one is pouring the contents of a drum into the vat while two are stirring with long poles. They are possibly doing their laundry. The drawing is inscribed 'Cheese Pie'
Page 17, two men doing their washing, inscribed 'Washing day in a transport'
Page 18, man lying on his back asleep
Page 19, hospital scene with patients on stretchers giving information to seated officers
Page 20, cloaked Arab figure seen from behind
Page 21, top, seated man playing a guitar
Page 21, bottom, seated man stirring a cooking pot on the ground
Page 22, convoy of army lorries on the road
Page 23, top, landscape with tree and huts
Page 23, centre, stonemasons
Page 23, bottom, lorries in a built up area, inscribed 'Malta '43'
Page 24, harbour scene
Page 25, camp site, inscribed 'Birzerta '43'
Page 26, open tent with figure inside
Page 27, soldier in shorts with hands in pockets talking to an unfinished female figure
Page 28, blank
Page 29, standing soldier smoking a cigarette. This drawing has been stuck into the sketchbook. The page is inscribed 'Malta 43'
Pages 30-46, blank