'Fred A. Farrell: Glasgow's War Artist' published in paperback by Philip Wilson Publisher

LONDON.- To commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of WWI, this beautifully illustrated catalogue details for the first time the life and works of Glasgow’s forgotten war artist.

Fred Farrell was a self-taught etcher and watercolourist, specializing in portraits and topographical subjects. Discharged from active service in November 1916 due to ill health, he was then attached as a war artist to the 15th, 16th and 17th Highland Light Infantry in Flanders and the 51st (Highland) Division in France. He also drew the heroic Home Front effort of women in Glasgow’s munitions factories, shipyards and engineering works; these drawings are remarkable for their dynamism and energy, allied with an artist’s sense of pattern and design. Farrell’s powerful sketches and watercolours of the Front offer a landscape filtered through his personal experience and emotion. Battle scenes and strategic deliberations are reconstructed, informed by first-hand accounts. Many include portraits of serving soldiers. This book showcases in print for the first time these unique and vivid records of war.

Joanna Meacock is Curator of British Art at Glasgow Museums. Previously the Scottish Regional Research Manager for the Public Catalogue Foundation, she has taught and researched 19th century art at the University of Glasgow for over 10 years.

Mark Roberts is Community Heritage Manager at Glasgow Museums. Previously a commercial archaeologist for over 30 years with many scholarly publications to his credit, he has an interest in military history and recently completed an MLitt in Battlefield and Conflict Archaeology at the Centre for Battlefield Archaeology at Glasgow University.

Fiona Hayes is Curator of Social History at Glasgow Museums. Her collection areas cover various aspects of Glasgow history from the eighteenth century to the present, including popular protest movements, popular culture, home and working life and women’s history. She has written about Glasgow Museums’ photographic survey collections.

Alan Greenlees has worked for the Collections Management section of Glasgow Museums since 1999. As a Collections Access Assistant he works with the records and archives of a diverse range of collections.