Object Details

From:NHerts

Name/TitleFirst World War pastel drawing

About this objectWorld War One (assumed title). In this work Neville Lytton captures an image of three soldiers in a deep trench, wooden ladders at either side, sandbagged at rear.

During the first Coronavirus lockdown of 2020 North Hertfordshire Museum Visitor Services Assistant Nicola Viinikka researched and gave her opinion on this work and on Neville Lytton.

What is the most interesting thing about this object?
Although a well-known artist, he was also an accomplished sportsman, playing cricket for Hertfordshire (1896–98) where he made 5 appearances and competing in the 1908 summer Olympics, where he won the Bronze medal in the real tennis competition.

Further information
Lytton trained as an artist and made a series of pastel drawings from his experiences fighting in France to illustrate his 1921 book The Press and the General Staff. This was about his experiences as a war correspondent, and finishes with him saying: 'I came to the conclusion that no one but a madman could ever wish for war; the highly polished boots, the bright buttons, the glittering medals and the clicking of spurred heels must never again deceive humanity into thinking that war is anything but the blackest tragedy from start to finish'. His most famous works are Victory Hall frescoes of War and Peace at Balcombe in Sussex. He donated two 8 ft long cartoons for this to Letchworth Museum, which are on loan to Knebworth house.

Neville Lytton (1879 – 1951) was something of a polymath; military officer, Olympian and artist. The son of the First Earl of Lytton and the grandson of the famous novelist, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, he was born in India, where his father was viceroy, on 6th February 1879. His parents were Robert Bulwer-Lytton and Edith Villiers. His siblings included the suffragette (and occupant of Knebworth House) Constance Lytton, Betty Balfour, (sister in law of the Prime Minister), and Emily, who married the architect Edwin Lutyens.

Neville Lytton was educated at Eton College and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris.

During the First World War he served as an officer on the Western Front and saw active duty at both the Somme and Amiens. For his service the French Government made him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. The end of the war saw Lytton working full time as an artist and author due to ‘strained financial circumstances’.

Shortly after the end of the war both Britain’s Imperial War Museum and France’s Musée de Guerre acquired examples of his art. He worked extensively in both landscape and portrait painting, but is perhaps most admired for his frescoes, such as those at the War Memorial Hall in Balcombe, Sussex. He became the third Earl of Lytton in 1947.

MakerNeville Stephen Bulwer-Lytton

Maker RoleArtist

Date Made1914 - 1918

Period20th Century (1901-2000)

Medium and MaterialsPastel on paper & board

Measurements259 x 288 (HxWxDxDiam)

Named CollectionLetchworth Museum

Object TypeDrawing

Object number1922.1944.8

Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved