Art of the American Soldier Art of the American Soldier - US Army ...

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Eventually, the committee chose more than forty artists, both civilian and
military, among them Reginald Marsh, Aaron Bohrod, and Sydney Simon. A
draft instruction sheet, noting where the artists would be going and to whom
they would report, informed them that the commanding general had been
directed to provide whatever they needed to do their jobs. Further, it stated
that
The objective for which the Art Units have been constituted is the creation of an
historical record of the War, in the form of oil paintings, watercolors, drawings and
other graphic media. The Unit is not to be employed in portraiture. It is hoped that
you will be inspired to express in your paintings significant and dramatic phases of
the conflict, to the end that the results may have a deep meaning for generations
to come.
A few months into the program, Congress cut funds for the art project.
Military artists were reassigned to other duties but continued to create artwork
that was then sent to the War Department Art Committee for screening. The
civilian artists, already in the war theaters, were subject to recall. Life magazine,
which had artists in the field, became their salvation. Hearing of their
plight, Life Executive Editor Daniel Longwell approached Assistant Secretary
of War John McCloy with an offer to employ all the civilians. Of the nineteen
civilians, seventeen joined the Life war art staff. In 1960, Time-Life donated
the entire collection of Life World War II art to the Army Art Collection, thereby
reuniting works by the civilian and military artists.
Abbott Laboratories, in conjunction with the Surgeon General’s Office,
additionally documented the war effort, concentrating on medical-related
subjects. More than thirty civilian artists, including Peter Blume, Joseph
Hirsch, and Franklin Boggs, spotlighted all facets of the Army Medical Service
from laboratory work at Walter Reed Hospital, training of nurses, actual care
of the wounded in the field, and the rehabilitation of injured soldiers on their
return to the United States. In 1946, Abbott presented the Army-related material
to the Art Collection.
The lighter side of war and observations of Army life provided another
facet of the documentation of World War II. This included the drawings and
cartoons that appeared in publications such as Yank magazine and Stars
and Stripes. Among the military members who satirized their day-to-day
existence and the situations in which they found themselves were Dave
Breger, Bil Keane, Bill Mauldin, and Wayne Thiebaud. They were able to
laugh at their foibles and those of their fellow service members, providing a
much-needed voice of the ordinary military man.