David Milne escapes the woods

In the late fall of 1918, David Milne found himself in London on soldier’s leave. What to do next? The Armistice had been declared just weeks before, but his training had ended too late for him to see active duty. Another opportunity, however, was soon to present itself; while walking in Mayfair he chanced upon a presentation of paintings commissioned by the Canadian War Records office, an initiative funded by the Anglo-Canadian tycoon Lord Beaverbrook. Anxious to join the effort as an artist, he pressed his case at the War Records office, asking to be sent over to France and Belgium to record the aftermath of the war, a commission that he eventually won after some wangling.

One of the hurdles in his way, however, was the need to quickly produce a body of his work for review. Milne thus asked his best friend, James Clarke, back in New York, to send a selection of his finest works on paper. Writing to Clarke on December 9, 1918, Milne said: “…if you feel like it...