The Royal Air Force Museum, the national museum dedicated to the history of the RAF, has acquired two works by Sir Thomas Monnington from Roseberys, a London-based auctioneers. The two sketches titled ‘Study for Fighter Affiliation’ and ‘Study for Southern England’ (1944) complement the museum’s other works by the artist which depict airborne training preparations for aerial warfare.
Both works were previously held in a private collection before being purchased at auction. They are currently displayed in can be seen on the RAF Museum's online Collections web page.
Noting the lack of authentic airborne perspectives in commissioned war art, Monnington wrote to the War Artists’ Advisory Committee in August 1943 requesting to depict “the war in the air as seen from the air”, arguing that this crucial aspect of the conflict had not yet been adequately recorded. With flying facilities arranged by the Air Ministry, which recognised his experience and familiarity with RAF stations as a “great asset”, Monnington was confirmed as an Official War Artist later that year. At a time when flying remained rare for civilians, his works were among the few to convey a genuinely firsthand aerial viewpoint. Before his commission, he had logged over 600 hours of flying time and worked for the Ministry of Home Security’s Camouflage Unit, analysing aerial appearances.
The RAF Museum already holds a small collection of works by Monnington, including an oil painting, and pencil and watercolour studies he made for his Official War Artist commission through the War Artists’ Advisory Committee (WAAC), making these new acquisitions vital for further illuminating the artist’s wartime oeuvre.
Commissioned by the WAAC between 1943 and 1945, Monnington depicted “the war in the air as seen from the air”, actively proposing to place aircraft “among the clouds” in order to convey the firsthand experience of flight.
The present works relate closely to the artist’s major wartime compositions, including “Fighter Affiliation: Halifax and Hurricane” and “Southern England: Spitfires Attacking Flying Bombs”. After the war two Fighter Affiliation paintings were transferred to the Air Ministry (now with the RAF Museum) and Imperial War Museums (IWM), and Southern England to the IWM.
"As Monnington’s finished Official War Art paintings are already held in national museum collections, the acquisition of these atmospheric preparatory drawings is an excellent way of further documenting his wartime oeuvre. They allow us to celebrate the artist’s drawings as interesting works in their own right," commented Julia Beaumont-Jones, Curator of Fine Art at the Royal Air Force Museum.
The preparatory drawing, “Study for Southern England” was exhibited by The Fine Art Society in their 1997 exhibition ‘Thomas Monnington.’
Reverse of frame for Study for Southern England (1944), showing The Fine Art Society (London) provenance label.
William Summerfield, Associate Director and Head of Modern British & 20th Century Art at Roseberys, commented: “These beautifully observed works offer a rare insight into how one of Britain’s most important war artists developed his evocative images of aerial combat. Roseberys is thrilled to have contributed to the RAF Museum’s collection of Monnington’s works.”
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