Red Ribbon

Figures & Portraits

Medium

Chalk pastel

Dimensions

30 × 30 cm

Year

Undated

Availability

Enquire

Song

Red Ribbon

A man and woman meet and fall in love just before the Second World War. Separated by it, the gardener sent to the front lines keeps writing to his sweetheart back home, hiding the ugly truth of a brutal war from her. He remembers their weekends and picnics together, until his ultimate end. The picture shows two soldiers climbing over the top of their trenches to face the enemy, obscured by a field of poppies, their figures ghosted into the background. For this story the song came first, and the painting followed. Neither picks a side in the war. All soldiers faced the same shared cruelty and made the same sacrifice.

Enquire about this work