The Naked Silo

"War is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace." – Thomas Mann 20" x 20", oil on canvas, 2014 The phrase "powder keg" aptly describes Eastern Europe at the beginning of the 20th Century, and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand* on 28 June 1914 was the spark that set it off. What followed was a series of declarations of war by nations –and if lines were drawn on a map to connect them, they'd resemble a diagram of dance steps: 28 July: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia 01 August: Germany declares war on Russia 03 August: Germany declares war on France  03 August: Germany invades Belgium 04 August: Britain declares war on Germany 05 August: Montenegro declares war on Austria-Hungary 06 August: Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia 06 August: Serbia declares war on Germany 08 August: Montenegro declares war on Germany 12 August: France declares war on Austria-Hungary 12 August: Britain declares war on Austr

To the Sound of Trumpets 16" x 20", oil on wood panel, 2014, private collection Lately when starting a big painting project I like to make one painting to serve almost as though it would be the cover of a book or the poster for a movie –but, in reality, I call them "title pages" because it sometimes feels like I'm doing a school project...a really fun and self-directed school project (read the details of it via  the press release ). Rest assured, this won't be a flag waving, chest-thumping, rah-rah-rah blah-blah-blah. In the words of one British gunnery officer: "My grief, but we're fed up to the back teeth with war books and war verse –all the eyewash stuff that seems to please the idiots at home. And what's the good of war books if they fail to give civilian readers an idea of what life is like in the firing line?" I know I have my work cut out for me. As with last year's 33 on 33 plein air painting project, my goal is

"It is forbidden to kill, therefore all murderers are punished  unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." – Voltaire 16" x 20", oil on wood panel, 2014, private collection (here's the painting without the text ) ________________________________________________ Here is the MASTER LIST  and links to all 100 paintings. Here is a SHORT VIDEO of all 100 paintings. ________________________________________________ Press release: To the Sound of Trumpets One hundred paintings commemorate start of World War One Macaulay Heritage Park, 35 Church Street (at Union Street), Picton, Ontario For his upcoming art exhibition, To the Sound of Trumpets , Milé Murtanovski is creating one hundred paintings to commemorate the hundred-year anniversary of the start of World War One. Opening on Remembrance Day, Murtanovski has been developing this project for more than a year, immersing himself in research, with a particular focus on the effects of