Now all roads lead to France and heavy is the tread
Of the living; but the dead returning lightly dance.
Edward Thomas, Roads

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Remembering a Veteran: War Artist Maurice Busset, French Aéronautique Militaire


Self Portrait


Maurice Busset (1879–1936) was a French painter and woodcut engraver. During World War I he was an airman and an official war artist, and a significant number of his works relate to aviation during the war. He later became an art teacher back in Clermont-Ferrand and was at the forefront of Auvergne regional art. During WWI he was a painter in the archives of military aviation. From 1929, he moved full time to a large studio in Clermont-Ferrand and became assistant curator at the City Museum. He also had a passion for archaeology and claimed to have discovered the true site of the Battle of Gergovie on the coast of Clermont-Ferrand, a theory still debated today.


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The Siren of  Notre-Dame and Skylights of Paris, 1918




Roland Garros Book Poster



Air Combat



Paris Bombarded



An Accident



Guynemer Attacking a Fokker, Detail



The Major Aces:
Fonck, Guynemer, Madon, Nungesser, Heurtaux




Bombardment of Ludwishafen



Air Combat

2 comments:

  1. As a war artist, Maurice Busset's interpretation of the conflicts he participated in should not be underestimated. Paintings give some viewers a deeper interpretation of the trials and tribulations society and soldiers had to endure during the First World War. Therefore, art can represent the human side of the horrors that were related to the First World War, where soldiers and their society's sacrifice can be felt through his artwork. Busset's Paintings, the major aces, ensure the sacrifice and the heroism that many had to face during the conflict will be remembered for future generations. Therefore, Maurice Busset made an everlasting contribution to the art world that will ensure veterans and society during the First World War will be remembered.

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  2. Excellent article and comment!

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