Rose Wylie

As stated on the canvas, this painting belongs to the Early Memory Series, in which Rose Wylie works through memories from her early childhood. She was five years old and living with her family in the coastal town of Hythe when the Second World War broke out. Fearing an invasion by the National Socialists, her mother took Wylie and her six siblings to live with relatives in London. But even there, the family did not find reprieve. In 1940 and the following years the German air force carried out several raids on the English capital.

In the painting Wing Tips and Blue Doodlebug, Wylie explicitly refers to the 1944 air raid now known as “Baby-Blitz.” She still remembers the precise form of the missiles today. Like all children at the time, she learned how to recognize enemy aircraft from flyers showing the different types of airplanes. On the right side of the painting, there is a cruise missile from the German air force, colloquially known in England as a “doodlebug.” This unmanned guided missile flew from Calais to London, as indicated by the arrows at the bottom of the painting.

The memory of World War II is also present in the painting Ack Ack. This abbreviation stood for anti-aircraft guns – weapons used to defend against air attacks. Often the subject of adult conversation it seeped into the children’s realities.