Explore the Reception of this artwork, The Kensingtons at Laventie.
The painting was first exhibited at the Goupil gallery on Regent Street from April to July 1916, to raise funds for the Star and Garter Building Fund. Its portrayal of exhausted soldiers caused a sensation. The painting was widely praised for its technical virtuosity, iconic colour scheme, and its "stately presentation of human endurance, of the quiet heroism of the rank and file", showing the war "in all its squalor and glory". The success of the painting led to the establishment of an official British war artist scheme by the Department of Information. Kennington himself was appointed a war artist and returned to France in 1917. In support of his application to become a war artist, the painter Sir John Lavery wrote "Mr Kennington, in my opinion, has painted in “The Kensingtons”, the only picture of the Great War that I have seen so far that will actually live."In May 2015, the Royal Mail issued a stamp featuring a detail from the painting as part of a First World War commemorative set.
Goupil Department of Information Kensingtons war artist Star and Garter Building Fund First World War British war artist Royal Mail John Lavery Regent Street