Past Exhibitions
Vive l’Amérique: French Children Welcome Their American Ally
When the U.S. entered WWI in April 1917, a school teacher in the Montmartre district of Paris asked his students to write essays and express in drawings how this would affect their lives. A century later, Le Vieux Montmartre Historical Society loans 30 of these drawings and two essays on this subject to be on exhibit the first time anywhere in the world. Exhibition open March 21 – Oct. 15, 2017 in Ellis Gallery.
Fields of Battle, Lands of Peace: The Doughboys 1917-1918
Michael St Maur Sheil’s portraits of WWI battlefields are featured in an outdoor photographic exhibition which tells of the healed scars of the First World War through our only remaining living witness: the fields of battle themselves. Once places of devastating violence, we now see landscapes of great beauty, testament to peace and remembrance. Exhibition open March 31 - Oct. 31, 2017 in the Museum and Memorial Courtyard.
Posters as Munitions
Soon after the outset of World War I, the poster was recognized as a means of spreading national propaganda with unlimited possibilities. Posters as Munitions showcases the depth and breadth of the collection through a series of works on exhibition for the first time at the Museum. Posters from France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the United States and more are featured, providing a sense of the global nature of this form of communication. Exhibition open Feb. 21, 2017 – Sept. 2, 2018 in Memory Hall.
Wacht im Osten: German Encounters with the East in World War I
When the German army advanced into the western territory of the Russian Empire (Poland, Lithuania, Belarus) in the spring and summer of 1915, the German soldier encountered a physical and cultural environment quite different from what he previously experienced.
They Shall Not Pass | 1916
Mud and mayhem, death and destruction, staggering unnecessary losses. All aptly describe the two pivotal battles of 1916, the Somme and Verdun. The attack by British and French forces was meant to break the Western Front stalemate. It did not They Shall Not Pass | 1916, on view May 6, 2016 – March 12, 2017 in Exhibit Hall, sheds light on the personal side of the conflict.
A Centenary of Australian War Art
The most comprehensive collection of Australian war art ever seen outside of Australia consists of artworks from the Australian War Memorial depicting Australian military experience from the First World War to Afghanistan. The exhibition features Australia’s best known war artists, including George Lambert and Arthur Streeton, and the works highlight the crucial role Australians played in some of the most defining moments in modern history.
Sand to Snow: Global War 1915
The year 1915 was pivotal in terms of the world-wide involvement in the war. World War I was the first truly global war starting in Europe, then spreading to Africa, Asia and the Near East. The European powers mobilized their colonies and commonwealths around the world. Soldiers and laborers from Southeast Asia, India, Africa and the Caribbean were sent to Europe and the Near East to fight.
Drawn to War The Political Cartoons of Louis Raemaekers
Dutch artist Louis Raemaekers, described as the “supreme cartoonist of the war,” used his pencils as a weapon to create powerful impressions characterizing and criticizing the nature and legacy of war.