It is appropriate that the central collection of the MOD should contain works of art depicting both twentieth century world wars.
Activity during the 1939-45 war is widely represented, and again the concentration is on naval activity rather than on land campaigns.
The works of the War artists were presented to the Admiralty and to the War Office in 1946 by the War Artists Advisory Committee. The works of art shown here are all on display in various conference rooms and senior offices around Whitehall.
Bernard Hailstone belonged to the group of early 20th-century artists whose best-known work was done during the Second World War. He was known for his portraits of royalty, members of the Armed Services, musicians and personalities of stage and screen.
Among the most memorable are his portraits of Sir Winston Churchill, Peter Ustinov and Sir John Barbirolli. His portrait of Lord Olivier now hangs in the bar of the Garrick Club.
In 1941 the War Artists Advisory Committee commissioned Hailstone to paint civil defence subjects. He joined the Auxiliary Fire Services and witnessed at first hand the horrific destruction caused by bombing during the Blitz. He would set up his easel among the bombed London churches and smouldering buildings when there was a lull in the raids.
He supplemented these works with portraits of his colleagues in the fire services and other war workers. His work came to the notice of Kenneth Clark, who in 1941 asked him to become an official war artist to the Ministry of Transport. During this period he recorded the life of the Atlantic and Mediterranean Convoys.
Throughout the rest of the war Hailstone travelled around the Mediterranean and North Africa, recording the activities of the mercantile navy.