OUTWARD BOUND - Original Oil on Canvas

An atmospheric original painting by acclaimed American aviation and military artist James Dietz, depicting a British flying unit during the First World War.

Set around a rustic farmstead in the French countryside, Dietz fills the composition with the quieter details of life behind the front line: servicemen gathered around an open staff car, a motorcycle passing through the yard and figures going about their duties amongst the surrounding buildings. Above them, a British aircraft heads away into the distance — the understated focal point that gives the painting its title, Outward Bound.

Rather than concentrating solely on the aircraft, the painting reflects the approach for which Dietz has become particularly admired: placing aviation within the wider human environment in which it operated. Period vehicles, uniforms, architecture and small incidental details combine to create the sense of a fleeting moment in the daily life of a wartime squadron.

The broad panoramic format is especially effective, drawing the viewer through the busy foreground and farm buildings before opening onto the aircraft departing beyond, perhaps beginning another sortie over the Western Front.

A substantial and highly detailed original from an artist internationally recognised for his depictions of First World War aviation and military history.