Ion Bărbulescu - B’Arg - (16 December 1887 - 1 November 1969) - Romanian artist

With thanks to Ognyan Hristov for finding quite so many amazing artists, among them B'Arg

Ion  Bărbulescu signed his work B'Arg. He was a Romanian painter, illustrator and journalist, who was mainly active between the two World Wars. 

Born in Odobesti, Ion inherinted his interest in the arts from his grandfather, a church painter. He had regular features in Toamna, Revista Copiilor si a Tinerimii (Children and Youth Magazine) and Dimineata Copiilor (Morning Children) as early as 1906, while his first solo exhibition was in Bucharest in 1915.

B'Arg commented on social and cultural events in both his drawings and articles, that were printed in magazines like Adevărul (1907-1948), Adevărul Literar şi Artistic” (1921-1948) and Cuvântul Liber (1933-1936). 

His many writings and studies of the arts and cultural scene provide an interesting account of the social, political, moral and human standards of the Romanian society during the 1910-1940 period.

B'ARg's Painting Soldier reading a letter in a shelter during the The Battle of Mărășești, WW1.  

The Battle took place between  6 August 1917 and 3 September 1917 and was the last major battle between the German Empire and the Kingdom of Romania on the Romanian Front during World War I. Romania was mostly occupied by the Central Powers, but the Battle of Mărășești kept the northern region of the country free from occupation.

Posted by Ognyan Hristov on the Facebook Page Artists of the First World War on 31 January 2022  https://www.facebook.com/groups/385353788875799

Brake Baldwin (1885 - 1915) – British artist

With thanks to Historian Debbie Cameron for finding this artist and his beautiful painting of the family’s cook darning socks during a Zeppelin Raid in WW1

Born John Brakewell Baldwin in Eltham, Kent in 1885, Brake's parents were John Baldwin, a Civil Engineer, and his wife, Sarah A. Baldwin, nee Clarke.  Educated at Forest School, Walthamstow, Brake went on to study art.  

On 6th April 1911, Brake married Edith Mary Wilson in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.  Edith was the daughter of Edith Berridge (who was also an artist), and the stepdaughter of Thomas Berridge, an engineer. 

Between 1912 and 1914, Brake Baldwin's work was exhibited widely, frequently with famous artists such as Lavery, Orpen and Sargent at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, or alongside Glyn Philpot, Augustus John and Walter Sickert at the National Portrait Society. Brake’s work regularly received favourable write-ups in London newspapers. 

During the First World War, Brake lived in London and was the Quartermaster of the 31st London Division, Voluntary Aid Detachment (V.A.D.). He devoted himself unsparingly to Red Cross work and died after an operation for internal problems on 30 July 1915 at a London nursing home. The men of his Division paid a last tribute by forming an escort and bearing the coffin to the train at Paddington for the journey to Leamington Spa where the funeral was held.

Sources:  Find my Past, Free BMD and

https://www.courtgallery.com/artists/653-brake-baldwin/works/10747/

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000635/19150716/172/0006

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001670/19150807/102/0004