Moving war sketches drawn by an Ipswich trained artist while imprisoned in a concentration camp are to be donated to the, Imperial War Museum after they were unearthed with the help of St Edmundsbury Heritage Service.
The pencil and pastel sketches were drawn by local artist Brian Stonehouse during the Second World War. They were unearthed during a workshop held by Moyse’s Hall Museum in 2005, when heritage staff held a session at the Bury St Edmunds branch of the Royal British Legion to find material and memories for an exhibition commemorating the end of the war. Dale Stonehouse, from Bury St Edmunds, brought in his brother’s fascinating sketches and drawings which provide a unique record of some of the inmates imprisoned in some of the world’s most notorious concentration camps, including Dachau.
During the war, Brian Stonehouse was parachuted into France as a radio operator for the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a country in which he had spent his early childhood. Captured, he was later imprisoned in concentration camps, where he initially tried to keep his sketches secret for fear of being punished. However, when his talent was discovered, guards asked him to draw sketches of them and this saved him from heavy manual work and helped keep him alive.
After the war, Mr Stonehouse visited General Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe and later 34th President of the United States, and the collection brought to light by Moyse’s Hall includes a personally dedicated photograph from him. Mr Stonehouse developed his professional career in America as a fashion artist working for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Elizabeth Arden. He returned home to England in 1979 to paint portraits. Sitters included the late Queen Mother, who sat for him several times at Clarence House.
Mr Stonehouse’s family has generously decided to donate the important collection to the Imperial War Museum, where some of the pieces will be displayed in the permanent Holocaust exhibition.
Miss Margot Stonehouse and her brother Dale said:
“Brian always said he wanted people to know about the horrors of concentration camps so that it did not happen again.”
Mr Stonehouse died in 1998 aged 80.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Imperial War Museum, London
Press Contact: Laura McKechan 020 7416 5311 lmckechan@iwm.org.uk
Victoria Main 020 7416 5497 vmain@iwm.org.uk
ISSUED BY: PETER JONES, HERITAGE OFFICER, ST EDMUNDSBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Tel: 01284 706183. pjones@stedsbc.gov.uk
