News
Artist's tribute to war heroes
Nov 05, 2018
Hollywood Private Hospital (HPH) is exhibiting 20 paintings of war heroes to coincide with Remembrance Day.
Artist Barry Watkins painted the WW1 veterans, many who were Victoria Cross recipients, over a two and a half year period using original photographs taken more than 100 years ago.
“I wanted to pay tribute to WW1 veterans and recognise what they did for our country,” Mr Watkins said.
Mr Watkins, who has been painting for more than 12 years, first became interested in the subject of WW1 in 2014 and has since visited memorials in Canberra, Albany, Fremantle and London.
“Initially I contacted the war memorial in Canberra and they helped me source the original photographs,” he said.
“A lot of consideration went into the selection process as I really wanted to do each soldier justice. I researched their stories and downloaded information on them.
“Of course the quality of the photograph was a consideration as this varied depending on age and the equipment being used at the time,” he said.
Mr Watkins researched each war veteran and included their profile.
“I put a lot of effort into getting their eyes right,” Mr Watkins said.
“Given Hollywood’s history as a military hospital and its special connection with veterans and war widows in WA, I am pleased the paintings were displayed there.”
The paintings will be on display in the HPH main foyer until 16 November 2018.