War Impressions: Being a Record in Colour

What is War Impressions: Being a Record in Colour?

A personal account of the second Boer War by Australian expatriate artist Mortimer Menpes. Menpes travelled to South Africa as a correspondent for the London weekly Black and White magazine. He was not only an accomplished illustrator who provided 99 watercolours for War Impressions, but also a skilled raconteur. Menpes portrayed, in words and paint, the major military commanders on the British side as well as notable civilian figures such as Cecil Rhodes, Arthur Conan Doyle and Rudyard Kipling. Although he saw little fighting, his paintings and anecdotes of life behind the British lines provide insight into the realities of the Boer War. War Impressions is also notable as the first in A. & C. Black's extensive series of colour books, in which Menpes used the Henschel colourtype process to pioneer the production of quality colour reproductions of works of art. The text of the book was transcribed by his daughter Dorothy, who was 14 years old at the time of its publication. Dorothy accompanied her father on his later artistic travels and the two went on to co-author six titles in the Black's colour book series. - Summary by Phil Benson