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Orderly Retreat

1943
20th century
48 1/4 x 33 1/4 x 2 3/4 in. (122.5 x 84.5 x 7 cm)

Philip Evergood (aka Philip Howard Francis Dixon Evergood), American, (1901–1973)

Object Type: Paintings
Creation Place: North America, United States
Medium and Support: Oil on canvas
Credit Line: Carleton College Art Collection, Encyclopedia Britannica Collection, gift of William Benton, Class of 1921, Trustee 1948-1961
Accession Number: 1997.267
Orderly Retreat, a haunting anti-war image, depicts the retreat of German soldiers from Russia during World War Two. Contrary to the World War I song sheets on display in the library, Orderly Retreat is not an image which emphasizes the virtues of military duty. The lifeless, skeletal forms of the marching German soldiers symbolize the death war brings and contrast with the brightly colored Russian family. Evergood described war to be nothing but "the futility of selfish aggression" which always defies ôthe laws of human justice.ö Orderly Retreat is more than a satire of World War Two; Evergood meant it to be reflective of all human history, and he wrote that "although Orderly Retreat symbolizes the obliteration of the cruel and vile Nazi military machine by the courageous Russian People, it is intended to carry a universal and timeless connotation."

Philip Evergood was born in New York City in 1901. The son of an Australian landscape painter, he first studied at Cambridge University but left to pursue a career in art at the Slade School in London. Following his time at the Slade School he traveled between Europe and New York until finally settling in New York. Evergood was one of the most renowned Social Realist painters of his day, using his art as social criticism in sympathy with the struggles of everyday people.

Orderly Retreat was given to Carleton College in 1954 by William Benton, the former head of Encyclopedia Britannica and an alumnus of Carleton. This painting is one of eleven works in the Carleton collection formally part of the Encyclopedia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting.

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