One of the biggest railway paintings known to art is visiting the National Railway Museum in York. Charles Hutchinson surveys the giant canvas.

TERENCE Cuneo's largest painting, Waterloo, goes on public display for the first time in 11 years in its debut outside London at the National Railway Museum, York, this weekend.

The gigantic 20ft by 10ft canvas will be the focal point of a new exhibition celebrating the iconic work of the London railway artist, from tomorrow until April 30.

Waterloo, Cuneo's depiction of the bustling concourse of Waterloo Station in the 1960s, has not been on show since 1996, the year he died.

The painting was commissioned by the Science Museum in 1967 and was displayed for nearly 30 years in the Land Transport Gallery, before being put into storage for 11 years.

Russell Holloway, projects developer at the NRM, says: "Although Cuneo was the official artist at the 1953 Coronation and a professional painter to both royalty and the military, it is his long-standing fascination with railways for which he is renowned.

"It seemed only fitting that one of his best known railway works is set to be displayed at the home of railway, the National Railway Museum, in its first show beyond London."

The exhibition marks the 2007 centenary of Cuneo's birth and consists of nine panels describing the life and work of the artist, including a focus on Waterloo.

The canvas was painted from the then boardroom of British Rail Southern Region and shares its perspective with two 1948 works by Helen Mackie, Waterloo War and Waterloo Peace.

The work is perhaps most famous for its portrayal of key figures at the time: Prime Minister Harold Wilson and French President Charles de Gaulle both make appearances as well as the artist himself, with his paint brushes and easel in hand.

Waterloo was formally taken into the Railway collection on May 18, 1967, having been purchased from Cuneo for 1,500 guineas. It was first seen by the public on October 17, 1967, the opening day of the Land Transport Gallery.

Cuneo used an assistant artist, Anthony Kerr, for some of the repetitive detail such as the station roof and, like Cuneo, Kerr is featured prominently in the painting.

As with Kilburn oak furniture maker Robert Mousey' Thompson, Cuneo's trademark was to put a mouse in his work. This first appeared in 1953 and subsequently in most of his paintings. A statue in Cuneo's memory was unveiled at where else but Waterloo Station in October 2004.

Andrew Scott, director of the NRM, says: "We're thrilled to be welcoming such a prestigious work of art to the museum and we feel the Cuneo exhibition will appeal to art lovers, art students and families alike."


Fact file

Name: Terence Cuneo

Born: London, 1907; son of artists Cyrus and Nell Cuneo, who met while studying with Rex Whistler in Paris

Occupation: Painter of portraits, industry, manufacturing, mineral extractions, dams, the M1 under construction and, most famously, railway scenes

Training: Chelsea Polytechnic, 1924 to 1927

First job: Illustrator for magazines, books and periodicals. Switched to working in oils in 1936

Wartime: Painted illustrations of aircraft factories and events for War Artists Advisory Committee

Post-war: Produced railway poster series of trains, track, locomotive works and bridges, one commission requiring him to be lashed to the Forth Bridge in a gale Most prestigious commission: 1953 Coronation

Portrait commissions: Queen Elizabeth II, Field Marshal Montgomery

Further paintings: Landscapes, battle scenes, African big game

Trademark: Small mouse in each painting

Honours: OBE, 1987; CVO, 1994

Died: 1996.


Did you know?

The National Railway Museum houses more than three million items of historical interest, from a Victorian uniform button to Queen Victoria's saloon carriage.