TWO official war artists from the district are the focus of a new book by Silsden man Colin Neville.

The publication – William Rothenstein and Richard Eurich: War Artists – is the fourth in a series about local artists from the past by Mr Neville, curator of the Not Just Hockney website.

Profits from sales, as with the other books, will go to the community-managed Silsden Town Hall.

For both Rothenstein and Eurich, who were born in Manningham, the two world wars were to prove significant turning points in their lives.

The wave of anti-German hostility that followed the start of the First World War focused the mind of Rothenstein, who was of German-Jewish heritage, on how he could serve Britain.

And the outbreak of the Second World War presented a similar dilemma for Eurich, who was from a Quaker background – how to serve his country without compromising his pacifist beliefs.

Both men found an answer in their art.

The socially well-connected Rothenstein played a key role in the foundation of the British Official War Artist scheme – and he became an official war artist himself in 1917, bringing him into direct contact with the carnage of warfare.

The scheme also provided a way forward for Eurich, allowing him to depict the unvarnished reality of the Second World War on the land, in the sky and particularly at sea – by that time he had established a reputation as a gifted maritime artist.

One of Eurich’s early war paintings, Withdrawal from Dunkirk, was an instant success with the public. The work was distinguished by its aerial perspective and for the accuracy of its depiction of the action on the beaches. There were few official cine films made during the evacuation, so Withdrawal from Dunkirk gave the public an overall sense of the situation.

Both men were profoundly moved by the human consequences of war, with Rothenstein abandoning his painting at one point to help the wounded in a field hospital. But the artist in him was drawn in terrible fascination by the shattered landscapes and buildings of the Western Front.

William Rothenstein and Richard Eurich: War Artists is priced £5 and can be ordered at notjusthockney.info.