Trench art is a broad term given to those pieces of art concerning war. Not all were made pre-say in the trenches and not all were made during war or by soldiers. Probably the art most recognized are those painted on the nose of warplanes. These consisted of mostly pinup girls and cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny.
Other art was the re-purposing of lead bullets, brass, and copper along with some carved wood. There are some beautiful pieces and when we were in London we visited the Imperial War Museum. I’ve included a photo that is on display at the IWM of a cross made from two cartridges with the arms of the cross made from bullets.
What fascinated me was art that was referred to as sweetheart grips. Plexiglas was used heavily in WWII for windows in planes and vehicles. Soldiers would carve up the Plexiglas to replace the wooden grips for their sidearm. Inside this transparent grip, they would place a picture of their loved ones or pinup girls.
Comments