Blue Cross painting exhibited

A Blue Cross-owned painting is currently being displayed as part of an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum. The painting, named Goodbye Old Man, is at the Animal's War exhibition until April 2007. The collection of paintings and other artefacts portray the fascinating story of the part played in twentieth century conflict by all animals, from horses and dogs to glow worms and ferrets. The exhibition will tell of heroic stories and the different roles they have played.

The Blue Cross painting is one of Fortunio Matania's most famous, and depicts a soldier's love and sympathy for his injured, even dying, horse. It is a haunting and emotional picture of a sad goodbye. The image was a bestseller because it illustrated the real distress that soldiers faced when their loyal horses were wounded and killed.

In 1916 The Blue Cross Fund commissioned Matania to paint a scene subtitled An incident on the road to a battery position in Southern Flanders to raise money to relieve the suffering of war horses in Europe. Over one million horses saw service with the British Army in WW1.

A year later, the Fund paid £129.67 for Goodbye Old Man and it was published in countless magazines worldwide during the war and afterwards. The Blue Cross treated many horses and dogs on battlefields in WW1. Our first supporters knew us because of this work and continued supporting us when they returned from the front line.