Building a Wiltshire Waggon near Longleat (April 1941)
1941
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1941
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Building a Wiltshire Waggon near Longleat (April 1941) is a 1941 watercolor by Hennell, a Social Realism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This sketch shows a busy workshop scene with rough, quick lines. A man sits on a stool, working on a wooden wagon wheel. Around him, tools and wood scraps are scattered everywhere. The drawing looks like it was done fast—lots of overlapping strokes and no smooth shading. The artist used loose, sketchy marks instead of careful details. It feels like a snapshot of a moment, not a finished picture. If you like this style, check out the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more sketches like this.
This watercolour by Hennell, titled *Building a Wiltshire Waggon near Longleat* (April 1941), was created as part of the Recording Britain project, a wartime initiative to document Britain’s landscape and cultural heritage. The work reflects the project’s focus on rural industries and traditional practices, capturing a moment in the construction of a local waggon in Wiltshire. Part of a broader effort to preserve a sense of national identity during wartime, the collection included topographical scenes and was overseen by figures such as Sir Kenneth Clark. The project aimed to counter concerns…
Read the full account in the museum source.
The Hennell family is a family of prominent silver-smiths and writers in Southern England.
See the richer artist page
