Original World War I Era gouache painting of British Soldiers At Night on Sentry Duty.
Watercolor/gouache sketches were often painted on the battlefield.
Painted in the emerging Vorticism style popular with Paul Nash and contemporaries.
Unsigned and undated. On paper mounted to a thin wooden board.
Excellent condition. Tape residue verso. 5.75 x 9.25”, 14.6 x 23.5cm.

Some relevant contextual notes on another WWI painting "The Ypres Salient at Night." Painted in 1918, by Paul Nash in his capacity as an official war artist, this work depicts a landscape well-known to Nash during his active service in the Ypres Salient with the Hampshire Regiment in 1916 and 1917. During the First World War Ypres and its outlying villages were the focus for three immense battles (October-November 1914, April-May 1915, and July-November 1917) as well as being subjected to the near constant attentions of German artillery. Ypres and its ill-favored salient became of symbolic importance to the British Army High Command....A peculiar feature of the Salient was the disorientation, caused by the changes in direction of the line, experienced by the defenders; this was often “exacerbated at night by the almost constant discharge of shells, signal rockets and observation flares by both sides.” (Quotation marks added.) “Paul Nash” by Haycock, David B. (2002) pages 27-29.