Evelyn Dunbar's importance in the history of 20th century British art has only recently been fully appreciated. She was described by Sir William Rothenstein, principal of the Royal College of Art, as having ?real genius? and enjoyed the singular accolade of being the only full-time, salaried woman war artist in the Second World War.

Dunbar will forever be associated with the epoch-defining paintings she produced during this period, of the Women?s Land Army. Dunbar was also an accomplished muralist and illustrator, as well as an inspiring teacher at The Ruskin School of Drawing and of Fine Art, Oxford. Her work is exceptionally rare on the open market ? nothing by her has appeared in a major London saleroom in the past 20 years - and yet her importance has never been more widely accepted, with a major retrospective exhibition at the St Barbe Museum, the publication of a serious critical biography and two major shows at the Imperial War Museum.