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2016 marks the centenary of the Battle of Mametz Wood, one of the most significant and bloody battles fought by Welsh soldiers during the First World War. A new exhibition at National Museum Cardiff ‘War’s Hell!’: The Battle of Mametz Wood in Art (30 April – 4 September 2016) explores art, poetry and writing by those who witnessed the battle first-hand and others who have since responded to it.

The key exhibit in this exhibition is the major painting by Christopher Williams The Charge of the Welsh Division at the Battle of Mametz Wood, commissioned by David Lloyd George in 1916 and which hung for several years in the drawing room at 10 Downing Street. It also includes work by the Welsh artist Margaret Lindsay Williams. A highly regarding and well-established artist in her life-time, she volunteered her services as an official war artist, but was rejected as a woman.  She painted the large painting Care of Wounded Soldiers at the Cardiff Royal Infirmary in 1916 of a ward that was later named ‘Mametz Ward’. 

The First World War inspired an outpouring of literature and poetry. Through writing, soldiers expressed their emotions, whether patriotism, heroism and admiration or horror, anger and sadness. Both Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon were at or near the Battle of Mametz and recorded their experience in poems.  The title for the exhibition is taken from Robert Graves, A Dead Boche.  The Welsh artist and poet Llewlyn Wyn Griffiths, later recorded his account of the battle in Up to Mametz.

David Jones was another another of the poets and writers with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers who fought at Mametz Wood who recorded his experience in art and writing. 

The display brings together the largest group display of David Jones’ war drawings. Twenty-six sketches are included from Jones’s time in the army.  In those he observes the people and places around him. After the war Jones became one of the 20th century’s most important modernist artists and poets. His experience of the First World War, of life in the trenches and in particular the Battle of Mametz Wood, proved to be one of the principal influences on his complex and intricate work.  The exhibition will also demonstrate how his war-time experience impacted his work throughout his career.  An important section of the show will explore art works that f David Jones’s produced whilst writing In Parenthesis including the published drawings used as he Frontispiece and Tailpiece.

Jones’ epic poem inspired by his experience, In Parenthesis, was begun in about 1927 and completed in 1937. His poetic narrative follows the character of the young Private John Ball who joins a company of Welsh soldiers to fight at the Battle of Mametz Wood.

May 2016 sees the world premiere of a major new opera, In Parenthesis, at the Wales Millennium Centre. Commissioned to mark Welsh National Opera’s 70th anniversary this opera is composed by Iain Bell with a libretto by Emma Jenkins and David Antrobus.

In depth new research has been undertaken by Beth McIntyre, Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings for Amgueddfa Cymru whilst curating War’s Hell!’: The Battle of Mametz Wood in Art and new discoveries were made. Beth McIntyre said:

“We can finally claim artist Christopher Williams as one of the first ever war artists alongside the more prolific Muirhead Bone. He wasn’t officially recognised as a war artist back then but we have his government documents here and his letters back from France show that he was there in 1916.

“This major exhibition explores the human response to the battle of Mametz Wood - the art, poetry and writing by those who were there, as well as work by those who have been drawn to respond since. The show explores how this particular battle has become embedded in the Welsh national identity and has come to represent the bravery and sacrifice of Welsh troops in the First World War. It shows how the battle still resonates today though the work of the leading Welsh writer and poet Owen Sheers. 

“Mametz Wood inspired so much response through art poetry and writing.  I was pleased that my research uncovered over 20 poems that specifically reference the battle of Mametz and a large number of watercolours, drawing and paintings.  This exhibition shares soldiers’ experiences through their art, poetry and literature and further documents and objects. I hope visitors to the museum will enjoy reading the poetry alongside the art works.” 

The exhibition will be accompanied by a full events programme – please see www.museumwales.ac.uk for further information. 

The exhibition forms part of Amgueddfa Cymru’s programme to commemorate the centenary of the First World War. Our Cymru’n Cofio - Wales Remembers 1914 – 1918 programme and related activities are generously supported by Welsh Government (CyMAL), the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Armed Forces Community Covenant Fund and other donors.

Admission to all Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum sites, including National Museum Cardiff, is free, thanks to the support of the Welsh Government.

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For further information, images or interview opportunities, please contact Catrin Taylor, Corporate Communications Manager on (029) 2057 3185 or email catrin.taylor@museumwales.ac.uk

Please visit the website www.walesremembers.org for more details on our four year programme.

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In Parenthesis

Discover more about In Parenthesis and the epic poem on which it is based at inparenthesis.org.uk

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The redisplay of the Armed Forces collections and associated community outreach work at St Fagans National History Museum is supported by the Armed Forces Community Covenant Fund.

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