The first military conflict covered by the illustrated popular press after its foundation in May 1842 was a war in Afghanistan. But the depictions of the defeat of the British occupation forces in the Asian borderland, which was of equally vital strategical importance for the British as for the Russian Empire, were solely fictitious and reconstructive. Also the events of the following Afghan war, which took place three decades later during the heyday of pictorial reporting, were only witnessed by very few of the special artists of the illustrated press on site. Most of the sketches appearing in the international journals came from members of the military forces. Among the few artists who had the courage and the experience to enter the rough and difficult terrain was William Simpson, the doyen of professional war illustration and one of its most brilliant representatives. In Afghanistan, Simpson also continued the extensive ethnographic and archeological studies of Asian culture he had begun in the early 1860s in India and in the Himalayas.
The Graphic, Jan. 18., 1879
The Illustrated London News, June 11, 1842
The Illustrated London News, June 11, 1842
The Illustrated London News, 1842
The Illustrated London News, 1842
The Graphic, Oct. 5, 1878
Harpers Weekly, Nov. 30, 1878 Fortress and Citadel of Ghuznee
The Graphic, Oct. 5, 1878
The Graphic, Oct. 5, 1878
The Graphic, Oct. 5, 1878
The Graphic, Jan 18, 1879
The Graphic, Oct. 5, 1878
The Graphic, Jan 18, 1879
The Graphic, Jan. 18., 1879
The Graphic, Jan 18, 1879
The Graphic, Jan 18, 1879, A Kabob ( Kebab) Shop
The Graphic, July 4, 1879
The Graphic, July 4, 1879
L´ Illustration 21. Mai 1879
Harpers Weekly, May 31, 1879
Harpers Weekly, May 31, 1879
The Illustrated London News, August 9, 1879, Frank Dadd, Afghan Portraits
The Illustrated London News, August 9, 1879, Frank Dadd, Afghan Portraits
The Illustrated London News, August 9, 1879, Frank Dadd, Afghan Portraits
The Illustrated London News, Sept. 20, 1879
The Illustrated London News, Oct. 11, 1879
The Illustrated London News, Sept. 27, 1879, William Simpson: The Ameer Yakoob Khan and Major Cavagnari signing the treaty of Gundamuk
The Illustrated London News, October 4., 1879, William Simpson: Sketches at a review at Gundamuck
The death of Major Cavagnari, Le Monde illustre, November 22, 1879, Daniel Vierge
The Illustrated London News, October, 11 1879, Richard Caton Woodville, Afghan Mountaineers
Le Monde illustre, 1879
The Illustrated London News, Oct. 18, 1879, After a Sketch by William Simpson
The Illustrated London News, Oct. 18, 1879, After a Sketch by William Simpson
The Illustrated London News, Dec. 27, 1879, Frank Dadd: An Afghan village Scene
The Illustrated London News, Nov. 22, 1879 Buddhist Remains in Afghanistan, Sketches by William Simpson
The Illustrated London News, Nov. 22, 1879, Buddhist Remains in Afghanistan, Sketches by William Simpson
The Illustrated London News, Nov. 22, 1879, The action on the Heights above Charasiab, October 6
The Illustrated London News, Dec. 6, 1879
The Illustrated London News, Jan.3, 1880
The Illustrated London News, Feb. 28, 1880
The Graphic,Oct. 23, 1880
The Illustrated London News, August 14, 1880
The Illustrated London News, 1880, Richard Caton Woodville