Women at Work - World War II

Watercolour

Pegaret Keeling had only recently graduated from the Central School of Art, when she was granted a roving commission by the W.A.A.C (War Artists Advisory Committee) to go into munitions and clothing factories to depict women engaged in war work. This remarkable series is the fruit of her labour: accurate, detailed and wryly observant watercolours that really capture the spirit and flavour of wartime factory life.

Her flair for costume in particular led her in later life (as Pegaret Anthony) to become an academic in the field of costume and fashion illustration at Central St Martin’s School of Art, which has a considerable archive of her work. The Imperial War Museum holds a number of watercolours by Keeling from the 'Women at Work' series