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Rudolf Sauter:
Doodlebug Alley – Death on the Way, 1944
Unmounted (ref: 7905)
Signed and dated, Press & Censorship Bureau approval inkstamp to verso
Watercolour over pencil on paper
10 x 13 ¾ in. (25 x 35 cm)
Tags: Rudolf Sauter ink pencil watercolour transport war World War II Paintings by British Artists Rudolf Sauter (1895-1977)
Exhibited: WW2 - War Pictures by British Artists, Morley College London, 28 October -23 November 2016, cat 55.
Literature: WW2 - War Pictures by British Artists, Edited by Sacha Llewellyn & Paul Liss, July 2016, cat 55, page 93.
During World War II, Rudolf Sauter was an Army Welfare Officer under South Eastern Command. Although he was never an official war artist the events he witnessed informed his work.
Sauter produced imaginative compositions with prophetic titles inspired by events he had observed; but he was disinterested in attempting to portray a faithful account. With some considerable liberty here Sauter shows V-1 Flying Bombs under attack from anti-aircraft artillery, indicated by the shell bursts lower right, and/or North American P-51 Mustangs. Flying Bombs were extremely fast and very small so had to be hit directly from behind which made the danger of flying into the debris cloud unavoidable.
