Ruined barn at Ennemain

A skeletal roof dominates this 1918 painting by Alfred Munnings, its rafters exposed to the open air like the ribs of some great creature. The barn stood in Ennemain, a French village caught in the path of the First World War, and its stripped frame tells the story of destruction plainly. Rather than lean into the horror of it, Munnings keeps his touch light and loose. Warm browns and yellows fill the broken structure, while cool greys settle across the bare trees and the washed-out sky, giving the whole scene a strangely peaceful mood.

Munnings had been sent to the front as a war artist, tasked with recording the Canadian Cavalry Brigade. His name is usually tied to spirited paintings of horses, and he went on to lead the Royal Academy as its president. This work shows a softer, more thoughtful part of his talent, trading movement and drama for a study of light falling on a ruined ordinary place. The result is less a portrait of war and more a quiet moment in its aftermath, an empty building left standing amid the fields.