The Department of Art receives many enquiries from students interested in war art and posters. Please read these guidelines to help you get the most benefit from the resources we can offer.

Written enquiries
Students with general enquiries about war art or war posters will be supplied with some information on the Museum's collections and a booklist indicating the most useful introductory texts. Our small staff cannot do your research for you. We aim to give you the means to find out about the subject for yourself.

Illustrations
Selection packs of colour postcards of war art are available from the Museum's Mail Order department. The Museum Shop stocks a wider range of postcards if you are able to visit the Museum. If you are interested in specific paintings the Department of Art can help you to order black and white photographs. You should allow four weeks for delivery so it is wise to think about your illustration needs well in advance.

Visiting the Museum
You will get the most out of a visit to the Museum if you have done some preparatory reading beforehand. Your local library can obtain recommended books through inter-library loan. Most city art galleries have works by war artists and will be able to advise you on other local sources of information.

Public Galleries
If possible, students are encouraged to visit the public galleries of the Museum (open 10.00 a.m.- 6.00 p.m. daily, free entry after 4.30 p.m.). The top-floor art galleries show a representative selection of paintings, drawings and sculpture from the First and Second World Wars. The galleries also offer an inter-active video programme giving an introduction to the history of the war art collection and a choice of several hundred colour images by a wide range of war artists and poster designers.

Research Facilities

Students who are researching specific artists or themes may wish to study works of art and posters which are not on display. The Department's Print Room is open to the public by appointment, Tuesday - Thursday from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Appointments may be made by post or telephone giving at least 48 hours notice. Entry to the reference areas is free of charge.

Students from outside the London area may find it possible to combine a school trip to London with a research visit to the Museum. A research visit may take several hours, especially if you combine it with a look around the public galleries. Plan your day to leave yourself enough time.

Please make sure that the Museum is the right place for your research; for example, the Museum does not deal with pre-twentieth century material nor does it hold work by American or European war artists.

Research Visits

Students will find that a good introduction to the graphic and fine art collections is provided by the gallery displays and inter-active video installation. The reserve art collection is otherwise open to visitors by appointment. Indexes and catalogues are available for consultation in the Department. The staff are happy to advise researchers on the best sources of information concerning the collections.

Research aids include black and white archive photographs illustrating the majority of works of art in the Museum's collection and also war artists' work which was allocated elsewhere by the Ministry of Information at the end of the Second World War.

A representative selection from the poster collection is similarly documented. A service is available for ordering black and white photographs. Art books may be consulted by appointment in the Department of Printed Books.

The Department of Art holds a unique archive of correspondence between the war artists and the British government concerning official commissions during the two world wars. The archive includes records of the Ministry of Information initiatives in establishing war artist schemes and is supported by a substantial volume of press cuttings which illustrate public reaction to war art exhibitions. In addition, the Department maintains research files on artists and poster designers and collects relevant exhibition catalogues. The archive and supporting documentation can be consulted by appointment in the Print Room.

• The Print Room is open Tuesday-Thursday, 10.00am - 5.00pm.
• Appointments should be made at least 48 hours in advance.
• General Information: tel. +44 (0)20 7416 5342
• Image Services: tel. +44 (0) 20 7416 5215
• Collections Enquiry Service