On 16 October 1853, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia, setting in motion what we remember today as the Crimean War. The following year, Britain and France entered the war on the Ottoman side. This was the only major European conflict in which the British Army engaged in the century between Waterloo (1815) and the First World War (1914-18).

The events of the Crimean War inspired a range of artists to capture and reimagine the conflict in different ways and for different reasons. Iconic artworks like ‘The Relief of the Light Brigade’ and ‘The Thin Red Line’ not only offer insights into how the war was fought, but also serve as windows into the artists’ minds.

In this illuminating talk, Professor Meaghan Clarke will highlight a range of art inspired by the Crimean War and appraise the artists who created such captivating imagery.

Professor Meaghan Clarke is in the Art History Department at the University of Sussex. She is the author of Fashionability, Exhibition Culture and Gender Politics: Fair Women (2020; 2022) and Critical Voices: Women and Art Criticism in Britain 1880-1905 (2005; 2017).

She has published essays and articles in collections and journals including Tate, Art History, 19: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century, RACAR, Henry James Review and Visual Culture in Britain.

Art of the Crimean War