Frank Watson Wood was born in Berwick-upon-Tweed and studied at Kensington Art School and Juliens, Paris. He is today best known for his watercolours of local landscapes. However, he is also noted for his military and naval themes- he was an official war artist during World War I.
As a military artist, Frank Wood was most unusual in his choice of subject. Rather than producing set-piece battle scenes popular in the 19th century, he chose to paint the everyday lives of ordinary soldiers. Here, he depicts a corporal of the King’s Own Borderers meeting his girlfriend on Berwick Ramparts.
The painting was created shortly after the regiment had moved into Berwick Barracks (1881). The move was part of a series of major reforms which were to transform the British Army, each regiment for the first time being allocated a localised depot and recruiting area. Uniquely, the King’s Own Borderers, a Scottish regiment, was given a depot south of the Scottish Border.
By Frank Watson Wood (1862 – 1953)
On display at the King's Own Scottish Borderers Regimental Museum
www.kosb.co.uk/museum
