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That Cursed Wood

1918
Not on view
That Cursèd Wood portrays the horrific destruction of nature, and, by extension, of humanity, on the Western Front. Bleak and war-torn, this no-man’s-land is scarred by shells and punctuated by seared and mangled trees resembling grave markers. Above the pockmarked surface fly several airplanes that resemble giant insects or birds. The title derives from the 1916 poem "At Carnoy" by British writer and soldier Siegfried Sassoon, which tells of a brigade "crouched among thistle-tufts" as twilight fades. Despite the surroundings, the exhausted soldiers attempt to rest in preparation for the next day: "To-morrow we must go / To take some cursèd Wood . . . O world God made!"

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: That Cursed Wood
  • Artist: Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson (British, London 1889–1946 London)
  • Date: 1918
  • Medium: Drypoint
  • Dimensions: Image: 9 13/16 × 13 11/16 in. (25 × 34.7 cm)
    Sheet: 13 7/8 × 18 1/8 in. (35.2 × 46 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Leslie and Johanna Garfield Gift, Lila Acheson Wallace, Charles and Jessie Price, and David T Schiff Gifts, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, Dolores Valvidia Hurlburt Bequest, PECO Foundation and Friends of Drawings and Prints Gifts, and funds from various donors, 2019
  • Object Number: 2019.592.30
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Twilight, Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson British, Drypoint
Twilight
Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson
1916
Letter from Kathleen Nevinson to Madeleine and Grant Sunday
Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson
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Letter from Kathleen Nevinson to Grant Richards June 4, 1917
Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson
1917
Letter from Kathleen Nevinson to Grant Richards dated July 28, 1918
Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson
1918
The Great White Way
Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson
1920

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