Spanish Refugee Family by Rachel Reckitt, oil on canvas

This is a rare scene of refugees from the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) who remained living in London during the Blitz. Reliant on charities, they were shockingly neglected and received no financial assistance from the Government or local authorities.

Rachel Reckitt was a modernist painter, sculptor and printmaker who trained at the Grosvenor School of Modern Art. In 1940, she came to London from her family home in Somerset to volunteer for the Citizen’s Advice Bureau at Toynbee Hall, Whitechapel, helping to re-house and evacuate bombed out families in the London Borough of Stepney. She also turned her family home in Somerset, 'Golsoncott', into a war nursery for evacuee infants, and regularly wrote letters home, describing the Stepney authorities' sometimes disorganised handling of relief support. Reckitt's art at this time reflected her humanitarian concern, featuring scenes of bomb-damaged houses and public shelters. After this painting, she sculpted a similar figure composition for a coloured alabaster tondo entitled 'Spanish Refugee Family' (private collection). Purchased in 1992. Copyright: the Golsoncott Foundation / RAF Museum.