In Sight - Lord Dundonald's Dash on Ladysmith

Lucy Kemp-Welch was a painter and teacher best known for her paintings of working horses in military service in the First World War. She exhibited her first work at the age of 14. In 1891 she attended Hubert Von Herkomer’s celebrated art school.

Kemp-Welch canvases were huge, so much so that the horses she painted were often larger than her. Her work was often met with surprise that a woman should possess such an ability for depicting horses with power and realism.

She was nominated several times for admission into the Royal Academy but was refused on the grounds that she was a woman. Even Herkomer remarked that it was curious that of all his students, it was a woman who had become so successful.

This painting depicts a moment in the Second Boer War (Second War of Independence, 1899-1902) known as the Relief of Ladysmith. At the start of the war, the Boers (descendants of Dutch settlers in southern Africa) were superior in number and invaded British territory laying siege to Ladysmith (now known as uMnambithi), Kimberley and Mafeking (Mahikeng). General Sir Redvers Buller and Lieutenant General Lord Dundonald commanded the South Natal Field Force and led the effort which finally succeeded in February 1900.

Winston Churchill was present as a war correspondent with The Morning Post. He was captured, taken prisoner and then escaped. Churchill gained a commission with the South African Light Horse Regiment before participating in the relief of Ladysmith. He is the third figure from the left in the painting. At some point in this painting’s history Churchill’s depiction was altered. He was once shown with his right arm raised holding a rifle.

In July 1901 a letter appeared in The Times accusing Lucy Kemp-Welch of historical inaccuracy in depicting Winston Churchill at Ladysmith. Churchill wrote to the paper the following day refuting the accusations made against her and stating the depiction was correct.

Visual description: a group of cavalry riders wearing khaki military uniforms and helmets charge up and across a hill. The lead figure, mounted on a brown horse, gestures in the direction they need to ride. The other riders are close behind, some brandishing rifles in the air. Behind the riders, there is a vast landscape of rolling hills and open landscape underneath a pale blue sky.