Occupation art online

THE Germans left a very visible stamp on Alderney – not only in the form of bunkers, batteries and barbed wire, but through other, rather more personal reminders.

During their periods of downtime on the island, a couple of soldiers painted. They used whatever materials came to hand: masonry paints, mainly in shades of Army green and red, and bedroom plasterboard for canvasses. Some of those works survived and six of them are currently held at the Alderney Society Museum.

Out of respect for islanders forced from their homes (and of space considerations – most of the paintings are metres long), there's never been an exhibition of Occupation art, but they have attracted a steady stream of interest.

Now the perfect medium for display has been found, in the form of a new national online gallery. Called the Public Catalogue Foundation, it is a searchable database of photographs of publicly-owned oil paintings from around the country.

Museums, libraries and town halls are currently submitting a selection of their most interesting works, and Alderney Society Museum, Island Hall and the courthouse just sent off a final selection of around 27 paintings.

'It shows people what we have got,' said museum curator Frances Jeens. 'The obvious attraction for us is that people have to come a long way to see Alderney's art collection, and now it's more accessible.'

The painting shown here was found in a cottage on High Street. It was found by returning residents who had the foresight to think that in years to come there might be interest in it, and they gave it to the museum.

'It probably depicts the soldier, his wife and his child,' said Frances.

'None of the soldiers wanted to be here. It was thought of as a punishment. This picture was found painted on the bedroom ceiling of a house a soldier was living in. He was probably quite lonely, and this way could look up and see his family.'

Frances believes that there were probably more paintings, but that when people returned – quite understandably – they just painted over them. Another the museum has is a huge Bavarian pastoral scene featuring cows and trees. It was probably painted as a picture window to detract from the rather bleak scene that the artist would have faced outside.

There's also a crude depiction of the Alderney landscape and one or two others featuring German propaganda, more unpalatable still for public display.

'We've had PhD students doing research into occupied territories, interested, as Alderney was the only island that was totally evacuated,' said Frances. 'This way, it is available for study and can be sensitively exhibited.'

Other interesting works among those selected by the museum include an oil painting of RMS Courier by Ian Glasgow. He was renowned for making satirical versions of the Alderney Journal, but few people know of his works in oil.

The database will make it easier to see what other institutions hold works that link to Alderney and could see some of them being requested on loan.

• Visit www.thepcf.org.uk for more information.