Review: Aftermath: Art in the Wake of World War One, Tate Britain ★★★★★

More than 10 million soldiers dead, over 20 million soldiers wounded and large swathes of northern France and Belgium left as ruined wastelands: World War One left devastation, destruction and turmoil in its wake.

But as the adage goes, 'great art comes from great pain'. And never more so than in the aftermath of WW1. Desperate to respond to the physical and psychological impacts of war, many European artists, including Otto Dix, George Grosz, Fernand Léger and C.R.W. Nevinson started exploring new imagery and new ways of making art.

Marking 100 years since the end of the First World War, Aftermath focuses on the impact of the First World War on the art of Britain, France and Germany between 1916 and 1932. Tracing the major developments in western art through an interdisciplinary display of more than 150 objects rarely shown together, this exhibition casts a magnificent new light on the art and its makers from this tumultuous period in social, political and economic history.

From war-time depictions of bloodied battlefields to majestic post-war memorial sculptures and Dada photomontages, the art on display offers an eclectic response to the effects of warfare in Europe. Otto Dix's Prostitute and Disabled Veteran. Two Victims of Capitalism is one of the most moving works on display. In this ink on cardboard sketch, Dix compares two figures affected by war in visceral detail. In the foreground we see a woman forced into sex work due to economic difficulties, and in the background a veteran scarred from battle. It's a harrowing yet utterly engaging portrait of shame, suffering and sexual desire.

But as ever there is a silver lining. Aftermath closes with a remarkable showcase of work that documents how post-war society began to rebuild itself, inspiring artists such as Georges Braque and Winifred Knights to return to classicism while others such as Fernand Léger and C.R.W. Nevinson turned their minds to visions of a technological future in the modern city. In this transformed world, new visions, new styles and new genres could stride forth.

Beautiful, poignant and heartstopping: this is a brutally honest show that celebrates, above all, the mighty power of human resilience.

To mark the centenary of the First World War, free tickets will be available for all veterans and members of the armed forces with the relevant I.D for the duration of the exhibition.