DETAIL : George LAMBERT  Russia 1873 � Australia 1930  'Chesham Street' [Chesney Street; The Doctor; Harley Street] 1910  oil on canvas National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased in 1993 DETAIL : George LAMBERT  Russia 1873 � Australia 1930  'The convex mirror' c.1916  oil with pencil on wood panel private collection
George LAMBERT  Russia 1873 � Australia 1930  'Chesham Street' [Chesney Street; The Doctor; Harley Street] 1910  oil on canvas National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased in 1993
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Lambert at War (1918-1919)

 

To our astonishment out stepped a full-fledged Light Horse officer, no dandified one, but equipped in hard cloth and leather, belted and spurred, and the lot surmounted by a real old Australian felt hat ... Perhaps what appealed to us more than anything was his knowledge of horses.

M.F. Bruxner, 1930.

In 1918 Lambert was appointed an Australian official war artist and worked in Palestine with the Australian Light Horse. In 1919 he was invited to accompany the Australian Historical Mission to Gallipoli. He won the respect of the Australian Light Horsemen through his knowledge of horses, his ability to tell a good story, and his general good humour. He painted many small-scale lyrical works, merging a direct approach to painting with an interest in pattern, form and colour. After the war he was commissioned by the Australian government to depict the major events of the Gallipoli campaign and other battle subjects for the proposed Australian War Memorial.

I was in it and like any other unthinking and healthy beast took pride and unholy joy in the affair, until towards the end and then I saw myself and the world so changed that I knew things could never be the same again.

George W. Lambert, 1930
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