Edward Bawden (1903–1989) was a distinguished British watercolour painter and illustrator. His early artistic training began at the Cambridge School of Art (1919–1922), followed by three formative years at the Royal College of Art in London (1922–1925). Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Bawden had established himself as a well-known designer and illustrator, contributing to book illustration, mural painting, and commercial design, while developing a highly individual style in watercolour.

During the Second World War, Bawden was appointed an Official War Artist. His service took him first to France, and later to the Middle East and East Africa, where he travelled extensively in Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. Throughout these journeys, he used watercolour as his primary medium, creating vivid records of landscapes, military life, and the people he encountered.

This was the time when Italy declared war on the Allies in June 1940. Britain responded to Emperor Haile Selassie’s pleas, viewing Ethiopia’s liberation as crucial for securing the Red Sea flank of the Suez Canal. In July 1940, the Emperor arrived in Khartoum, where the British began training an Ethiopian force to invade Gojam and link up with the patriots. During this period, Bawden, who had first sailed to Cape Town and then flown to Cairo, undertook the arduous journey down the Nile to Khartoum. There, he met the Emperor and created his illustration.

Among those Bawden portrayed was Tsige Dibu, who later became a Brigadier General. During the Italian occupation, Tsige fought with the resistance in Hararge and Bale but fled to Djibouti when the situation became desperate. On hearing of Emperor Haile Selassie’s arrival in Khartoum, he set out once more—travelling through Berbera to Port Sudan and eventually reaching Khartoum, where he joined other patriots gathered to support the Emperor’s return.

Maj. Ordre Charles Wingate (later Major General) transformed the emperor’s group of 1,600 Ethiopian exiles, along with some Sudanese volunteers, into a highly disciplined unit called Gideon Force. Bawden arrived in Addis Ababa in May 1941, coinciding with Emperor Haile Selassie’s return to Ethiopia. A historically important moment, five years after Ethiopia’s surrender to Mussolini’s invading forces. In Addis Ababa, the artist discovered more than just the unfolding of history. The city and its surroundings revealed to him a landscape of striking contrasts—richly coloured vistas where fantastical elements sat alongside sombre realities.

One of the most striking works from Bawden’s Ethiopian period is Roman Catholic Church, Addis Ababa (1941), now in the collection of Tate Britain. Reflecting on his first encounter with the painting, Douglas Percy Bliss wrote in his biography Edward Bawden:

“When I first encountered it in the Tate after the war, I got a definite shock of surprise and pleasure. The incomplete church with its high dome and curious lantern seemed to be reeling against a lowering sky. Through the unglazed nave one seemed to be conscious of lightning. Great cliffs of cloud gather their forces in the sky as though…”

For Bawden, Addis Ababa was more than a place of passage. It was a site where history, politics, and landscape converged. His drawing of the city’s bustling central market captures the vitality and colour of the scene: figures in traditional dress weave among stalls, animals, and makeshift shelters, embodying both the commerce and cultural diversity that animated the capital in the aftermath of its liberation.

This attentiveness to local character and atmosphere also informed his work beyond Ethiopia’s capital. In Asmara, Eritrea, Bawden produced a striking portrait that departs from his typically restrained colour palette. Here, he highlights the sitter’s ornate and decorative uniform, setting its rich details against a pale background, conveying dignity and vitality while revealing his sensitivity to character and bold use of colour.

Many of Bawden’s works from this period can be accessed through the Imperial War Museum’s online collection, where they serve as important records of the era.