Fortunino Matania Gallery

Goodbye Old Man - Soldier and dying horse during WWI

Goodbye Old Man is a striking image of a soldier bidding farewell to his fatally injured horse. Goodbye Old Man was commissioned by the Blue Cross in 1916 to raise money to help horses on active service.
The artist is Fortunino Matania and it is one of his most famous war-time illustrations. Fortunino Matania (1881 - 1963) was born in Naples.
During and after the war, his work adorned many a history book. During the 1st World War Matania mainly worked for the British magazine The Sphere as their star illustrator, usually producing one full page illustration or more per weekly issue.
He was also employed by the British government and commissioned by individual British regiments. He visited the front several times which allowed him to view wartime conditions at first hand and talk with soldiers about their experiences. From sketches and memory he could then finish a painting, often within a few days

© Mary Evans Picture Library 2015 - https://copyrighthub.org/s0/hub1/creation/maryevans/MaryEvansPictureID/10046868

Australian troops counter-attack at Amiens, WW1

Australian troops hold the line at Villers Bretonneux nine miles east of Amiens during a German attack during the Battle of Amiens in April 1918. The image was an accurate impression by Sphere special artist, Fortunino Matania, having been reconstructed with the help of eyewitness accounts and official material. In the foreground, an infantryman, his rifle slung over his shoulder, takes over a Lewis Gun whose crew had been put out of action. Behind that can be seen another soldier hitting a German with his tin helmet (having already strangled another with his bare hands) while a third German attempts to flee down a railway cutting but is stopped by the gun fire of the Australian officer's batman. Date: 1919

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Aucklands advance from its battalion headquarters

This drawing relates to an incident on the 14th/15th September 1916 and is described in a book entitled A Saga of the Sword by Austin F. Britten, published by Arrowsmith, London 1928. The chapter, entitled The End of an Epoch, contains the following map reference : S11 b4.9. This is right in the middle of the area of the 2nd Battalion Auckland Regiment which was in No-Man's Land, just a shade short by 50 yards or so of the German Front Line in Coffee Lane. And, no doubt, Matania is attempting to portray an incident in the initial phase of the Auckland's advance from its battalion headquarters, slightly on the right of the fork (La Forche) which is where the New Zealand memorial now stands. It would also appear that four tanks were allocated to the New Zealand Division and all four passed this way towards the fork before spreading out. They were from D Company and were numbered D8, D10, D11 and D12. The actual image was never used in the book (which in the end did not have any illustrations) but no doubt Matania was asked by Austin Britten to produce this incident at the above map reference. The name of the book was written on the back of the picture. Fortunino Matania, Ri (1881-1963). One of the most accomplished realistic illustrators and artists of his time, his wartime work was immensely popular and appeared in nearly every major news magazine, Allied, Neutral and Central Powers alike. Date: 1916

© David Cohen Fine Art/Mary Evans Picture Library