Seven abstract paintings have gone on display as part of events marking the 100 years since the beginning of the Battle of the Somme .
Leighton House Museum in Holland Park has teamed up with Eton College to display the large-scale paintings by Hughie O’Donoghue in a special exhibition called Seven Halts on the Somme.
It is a sequence of paintings recalling seven stopping points, where troops were halted during one of the bloodiest military battles in history, one hundred years ago.
Each art work is a commemoration of an individual life explored through a painting process evocative of archaeological excavation.
The paintings are the result of the artist’s residency at the elite college’s Drawing Schools in 2013-14.
Mr O’Donoghue, who spent many months exploring the remarkable collection of letters and diaries from the First World War in the college archives, alongside his own research into the landscapes of Northern France and his family connection to the conflict.
The paintings, on loan from the Eton College Collections, were first exhibited at the college in 2014.
They will be displayed at Leighton House Museum, in Holland Park Road, until October 2.
A series of events are taking place on Friday (July 1) to mark the centenary of the beginning of the bloody battle .
On this day 100 years ago nearly 20,000 British troops lost their lives on what is the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army.
The museum is open daily from 10am to 5.30pm (closed Tuesdays), entry costs £7, £5 concessions.
For full details of the exhibition and Leighton House Museum go to their website .
