Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum is exhibiting John Noott’s collection, The Art of the Great War, until 22 September 2024.

Based in Broadway, John has been an art collector and dealer for over 50 years, and during this time has drawn together an incredible collection of First World War art.

This latest exhibition is a follow up to The Art of World War II - an exhibition previously hosted by Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum which proved incredibly popular, showcasing a diverse range of original art from a unique mix of artists both amateur and professional, both up-and-coming and well-established.

The Art of the Great War presents a similarly broad range of original art and prints, all produced during, or depicting scenes from, ‘The War to End All Wars’. Capturing both the horrors of the conflict and snatched moments of humour during the darkest of times, together the collection provides a very human perspective of the events of 1914-1918.

The collection is a personal one for John, as he was inspired by childhood memories of his own father, who served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the Great War’s often-forgotten Salonika campaign. Asked for a personal highlight from the exhibition, he points out one of the largest paintings on display by artist Henry C. Seppings Wright - an official artist to New Zealand forces. The striking piece depicts two German soldiers helping a wounded British Tommy out of a trench. John explains:

“That, to me, it goes to say, we’re all human beings … why are we doing this?”.