Signed l.r.: L.D.Luard and with label to reverse on backboard: L.D.Luard/10 Hall Road/ London NW8

Wash with pen and sepia ink, 33 by 21 cm (13 by 8 ¼ ins)

Exhibited: City Art Gallery, Manchester, Civil Defence Artists Exhibition, 1942, no.7

The painter Lowes Luard earned his reputation as an equine painter, chronicling the work of the mighty Percheron work-horses helping re-model the banks of the Seine in Paris in the early years of the twentieth century. His interest in human social subject matter to some extent mirrors his portrayal of the plight of the horse, such as in this powerful depiction of refugees in World War One. He was a member of the AIA, serving on its Central Council from 1939 and acting as its extremely effective treasure in the early 1940s.