A WVS Canteen At The Docks, 1943 (oil on canvas)

Creator: Spear, Ruskin (1911-90) Dock workers gather outside a WVS (Women's Voluntary Service) mobile canteen, Britain, 1943. A line of men queue at the side of the trailer while a soldier and others sit in the foreground smoking, drinking tea and reading newspapers. In the left background, a crane lifts crates onto a ship. Ruskin Spear was one of over 300 British official war artists commissioned by the War Artists Advisory Committee, who depicted factories and London life during the Blitz. A retrospective of his work was held at the Royal Academy in 1980 and his paintings are held at Tate Gallery, Arts Council, National Portrait Gallery and Imperial War Museums.