Ahmed Yusef, An Iraqi Messenger

Edward Bawden 1903 - 1989

Summary

Head and shoulders portrait of a young man in uniform. Subject is facing the viewer and has dark hair and eyes and a small moustache. He wears an airforce blue uniform with silver buttons and hat with a badge at the front. There is a brown door behind him to the left. Edward Bawden was an offical War Artist during World War II. He was sent to the Middle East. The title of this work used to be 'Ahmed Yusef, An Iraqui Messenger Boy' until 31 March 2022. Although, as far as we are aware, the original title of the work was intended by the artist, we felt that keeping it word-for-word was less important than the gallery playing its part in making racial slurs less acceptable in society today. Hannah Williamson, Curator, Fine Art.