Building Aircraft: Making the Engine

1917

The Great War: Britain's Efforts and Ideals: Building Aircraft: Making the Engine, 1917. Christopher Nevinson (British, 1889–1946). Lithograph on wove paper; image: 40 x 30.1 cm (15 3/4 x 11 7/8 in.); sheet: 50.8 x 38.3 cm (20 x 15 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Anne Elizabeth Wilson Memorial Fund 2018.298 The British government commissioned Christopher Nevinson to create this print, part of a series of six, during World War I. By depicting the manufacture and use of airplanes in England, Nevinson represented the motivations and goals of war to a broad public. This image emphasizes the intense focus and strength required to build an engine. Diagonals and geometric shapes throughout suggest the efficiency and velocity of modern manufacturing. This print belongs to a series commissioned by England’s Bureau of Information during World War I.