The most famous painting of WW1 looks different now

This is one of the most famous artworks of the First World War, John Singer Sargent’s Gassed. In recent decades, Gassed was interpreted as a very yellow painting. But it didn’t always look like that. The yellow effect comes from a discoloured varnish from the 1970s, concealing Sargent’s intentions and skewing our interpretation of his work. Now, thanks to meticulous conservation efforts as part of IWM’s new Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries, Gassed and its meaning have been reborn. Today we’re going to examine the history of Gassed, what it means, why it’s important, and how that has changed over 100 years on display. Plan your visit to IWM’s Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries: Find out more about Gassed: See more British War Artist work: View high resolution scan of Gassed: Attributions: Gassed scans by Factum Foundation for Imperial War Museums Virtual Hall of Remembrance created by immersive technology studio Infinite Form for IWM for the centenary of the armistice Explore and licence the film clips used in this video from IWM Film: Follow IWM on social media: Twitter: Instagram: Facebook: