Improvisation Collection

Army Chaplain in Great War Deeds, WW1
An Army Chaplain holding a night service on the battlefield, with a packing case as an altar and a tin mug as a chalice. Reproduction of a painting by A C Michael in Great War Deeds

Londoners sheltering from a German air raid on a platform in Piccadilly Underground Station during the Blitz
6015286 Londoners sheltering from a German air raid on a platform in Piccadilly Underground Station during the Blitz, World War II, September 1940 (b/w photo) by English Photographer

Jazz
Christophe Kiciak

Where theres a will, theres a way: short man standing on a pile of books to kiss a much taller woman (colour litho)
5999970 Where theres a will, theres a way: short man standing on a pile of books to kiss a much taller woman (colour litho) by English School

Improvised homes in ruined France, between c1915 and 1918. Creator: Bain News Service
Improvised homes in ruined France, between c1915 and 1918. Men, women and children, outside wood shacks during World War I in France.

La vie en Campagne; Cette cheminee eventree forme un poste d'observation parfait, 1914. Creator: Unknown
'La vie en Campagne; Cette cheminee eventree, dans les Flandres, forme un poste d'observation parfait, 1914. From "L'Album de la Guerre 1914-1919: Volume I" [L'Illustration

'Devant les Falaises de L'Aisne; Un pont sur l'Oise improvise par le genie, 1914. Creator: Unknown
'Devant les Falaises de L'Aisne; Un pont sur l'Oise improvise par le genie, 1914. From "L'Album de la Guerre 1914-1919: Volume I". [L'Illustration, Paris, 1926]

'Devant les Falaises de L'Aisne; Un pont sur l'Oise improvise par le genie, 1914. Creator: Unknown
'Devant les Falaises de L'Aisne; Un pont sur l'Oise improvise par le genie, 1914. From "L'Album de la Guerre 1914-1919: Volume I". [L'Illustration, Paris, 1926]

'Devant les Falaises de L'Aisne; Un pont sur l'Oise improvise par le genie, 1914. Creator: Unknown
'Devant les Falaises de L'Aisne; Un pont sur l'Oise improvise par le genie, 1914. From "L'Album de la Guerre 1914-1919: Volume I". [L'Illustration, Paris, 1926]

'Devant les Falaises de L'Aisne; Un pont sur l'Oise improvise par le genie, 1914. Creator: Unknown
'Devant les Falaises de L'Aisne; Un pont sur l'Oise improvise par le genie, 1914. From "L'Album de la Guerre 1914-1919: Volume I". [L'Illustration, Paris, 1926]

Portrait of Jack Lesberg and Max Kaminsky, Famous Door, New York, N.Y. 1946. Creator: William Paul Gottlieb
Portrait of Jack Lesberg and Max Kaminsky, Famous Door, New York, N.Y. 1946

Composing
Volodymyr Poleshchuk

Commedia dell arte Characters
Four Characters from Commedia dell arte, an improvised kind of popular comedy in Italian theatres in the 16th18th centuries, based on stock characters

Bill Evans
Hanna Lee Tidd

Male Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) trying to catch fallen fruits using stick as a tool, Conkouati-Douli National Park, Republic of Congo, Africa

Actors from the Commedia dell Arte (oil on canvas)
LST204444 Actors from the Commedia dell Arte (oil on canvas) by Lambrechts, Jan Baptist (1680-1731); 42x37 cm; Private Collection; (add.info)

Black-striped capuchin (Sapajus libidinosus) using rock as a tool to break open palm nut, Parnaiba Headwaters National Park, Piaui, Brazil. August

Baby ground squirrel (Xerus inauris) using its tail for shade, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa. Non-ex

"We were all square at the seventeenth"(colour litho)
6013986 " We were all square at the seventeenth" (colour litho) by Hassall, John (1868-1948); Private Collection; (add.info)

Scene from The Swiss Family Robinson: nearing land in the tub boat (chromolitho)
5996909 Scene from The Swiss Family Robinson: nearing land in the tub boat (chromolitho) by Maplestone, Florence (fl.1891); Private Collection; (add.info.: Scene from The Swiss Family Robinson)

"I hit one ball right into the sea"(colour litho)
6013996 " I hit one ball right into the sea" (colour litho) by Hassall, John (1868-1948); Private Collection; (add.info)

In the mud of the Somme (bronze)
XIR341962 In the mud of the Somme (bronze) by Broquet, Gaston (1880-1947); Jardin du Val de Grace, Paris, France; (add.info)

Darwins woodpecker finch (Cactospiza pallida) using twig as tool to extract beetle grub from dead branch, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos, South America

Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons), 1913. Creator: Vassily Kandinsky
Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons), 1913

Sailing car (engraving)
669467 Sailing car (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Sailing car. Illustration from The Picture Magazine (George Newnes), 1894

How to create a masterpiece (colour litho)
3098424 How to create a masterpiece (colour litho) by Caran d Ache (Emmanuel Poire) (1858-1909) (after); Private Collection; (add.info.: How to create a masterpiece)

The improvisor (engraving)
5216721 The improvisor (engraving) by German School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: The improvisor. Illustration from Hellas und Rom)

The improvisor, ancient Roman entertainer (litho)
5997065 The improvisor, ancient Roman entertainer (litho) by German School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: The improvisor, ancient Roman entertainer)

Punch cartoon: patent garotte-proof overcoat (engraving)
6034702 Punch cartoon: patent garotte-proof overcoat (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Punch cartoon: patent garotte-proof overcoat)

Cartoon lampooning LLoyd George as the Great Improviser or leader of the
KDC400226 Cartoon lampooning LLoyd George as the Great Improviser or leader of the Improvisa-Tories, June, 1920 (litho) by English School

Sports recommandes a la jeunesse. Le patinage. Illustration for Le Pele-Mele, 1902 (colour litho)
3100593 Sports recommandes a la jeunesse. Le patinage. Illustration for Le Pele-Mele, 1902 (colour litho) by Avelot, Henri (1873-1935); Private Collection; (add.info)

French soldiers in their barracks (colour litho)
2818618 French soldiers in their barracks (colour litho) by Lix, Frederic Theodore (1830-97) (after); Private Collection; (add.info.: French soldiers in their barracks)

Children taking an evening class at Elephant and Castle Station on the London Underground during the Blitz
6015278 Children taking an evening class at Elephant and Castle Station on the London Underground during the Blitz, World War II, 1940 (b/w photo) by English Photographer

The Little Improvisatrice, 1867 (pencil, pen and ink)
652994 The Little Improvisatrice, 1867 (pencil, pen and ink) by Solomon, Simeon (1840-1905); 24.7x35.5 cm; Private Collection; (add.info.: The Little Improvisatrice. Simeon Solomon (1840-1905)

Cats in Harness (engraving)
3626181 Cats in Harness (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Cats in Harness. Illustration for Chatterbox (1871)

Emergency methods of carrying injured persons (engraving)
3639327 Emergency methods of carrying injured persons (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info)

A British regiment of dragoons using their swords to put out a fire (colour litho)
2780037 A British regiment of dragoons using their swords to put out a fire (colour litho) by French School, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info)

The epic defense of the Alpine troops of the Feltre battalion on Cima Valderoa (colour litho)
2808651 The epic defense of the Alpine troops of the Feltre battalion on Cima Valderoa (colour litho) by Beltrame, Achille (1871-1945); Private Collection; (add.info)

Un malin (colour litho)
3097793 Un malin (colour litho) by French School, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Un malin. Illustration for Le Pele-Mele, 6 March 1904.); © Look and Learn

Punch cartoon: patent antigarotte collar (engraving)
6034706 Punch cartoon: patent antigarotte collar (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Punch cartoon: patent antigarotte collar)

German soldiers in the trenches in Flanders firing through loopholes made from small wooden boxes and sewer pipes
3626904 German soldiers in the trenches in Flanders firing through loopholes made from small wooden boxes and sewer pipes (b/w photo) by German Photographer (20th Century)

Punch cartoon: Nothing Like a Mechanical Turn (for Hair-Brushing) (engraving)
6034758 Punch cartoon: Nothing Like a Mechanical Turn (for Hair-Brushing) (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Punch cartoon)

British army troops find soldiering hot work during the height of the summer in Sicily during the Second world War. With their well known talent for improvisation

Early gas masks, First World War, 1915, (1935). Creator: Unknown
Early gas masks, First World War, 1915, (1935). The Introduction of Chemical Warfare: one of the earliest patterns of gas-masks, pads of cotton-wool soaked in a solution of common washing-soda

Betty Carter, Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club, Soho, London, March 1994. Creator: Brian O Connor
Betty Carter, Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club, Soho, London, March 1994

Improvisation 20, 1911. Artist: Kandinsky, Wassily Vasilyevich (1866-1944)
Improvisation 20, 1911. Found in the collection of the State A. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

Knives or Cisers to Grind, Cries of London, (c1688?)
Knives or Cisers to Grind. A knife and scissors grinder at work, with his grindstones on a barrow improvised to transport them. He is smoking as he works. From Cries of London, c1750

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"Unleashing Creativity: The Art in Extraordinary Circumstances" In the depths of the Great War, an Army Chaplain's deeds showcased the power of improvisation. Amidst chaos and despair, he found solace in his ability to adapt and provide comfort to those in need. They say where there's a will, there's a way. A short man standing on a pile of books just to steal a kiss from a much taller woman exemplifies the determination and resourcefulness that comes with improvisation. From war-torn battlefields to smoky jazz clubs, it has been at the heart of musical expression. Bill Evans' soulful melodies captivated audiences as he fearlessly explored uncharted territories on his piano keys. Commedia dell'arte characters brought laughter and joy through their spontaneous performances. With no script or rehearsals, they relied solely on their wit and quick thinking to entertain crowds for centuries. Even our primate counterparts understand the value of improvisation. Male chimpanzees using sticks to catch fallen fruits or black-striped capuchins breaking open palm nuts with rocks demonstrate their ingenuity when faced with challenges. Nature itself teaches us valuable lessons about adaptation. Baby ground squirrels utilizing their tails for shade in scorching heat remind us that even small acts can make a significant difference in survival within harsh environments like Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Life often throws unexpected curveballs our way, but it is how we respond that truly defines us. As depicted in "We were all square at the seventeenth, " individuals who embrace improvisation find creative solutions even amidst adversity. The Swiss Family Robinson nearing land in their tub boat showcases resilience and innovation when stranded far from civilization. Their ability to think outside the box allowed them not only to survive but also thrive against all odds. Sometimes, even sports require spontaneity.