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Artist
James McBey
(Newburgh, Scotland, 1883 - 1959)
Date1917
Mediumdrypoint on paper
ClassificationsMcBey
DimensionsOverall: Height: 15.1 cm
Plate Size: Width: 25 cm
Frame: Height: 33 cm, Width: 51 cm
Plate Size: Width: 25 cm
Frame: Height: 33 cm, Width: 51 cm
AcquisitionPresented in 1959 by Mr H H Kynett.
Copyright© Aberdeen City Council (McBey Collection)
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDAG001891
About MeEarly in 1917, McBey requested special leave to go to the Somme front with the intention of making drawings of the action. Until then, his plates had recorded glimpses of France, strangely undisturbed behind the lines. On his trip he was confronted with the brutal reality of the war. This scene, at the village of Fricourt, three miles east of Albert, depicts armed soldiers standing in a shallow trench in front of a row of graves. Fricourt had been an important stronghold inside the German lines but was captured by the British in July 1916.
