Art from the Trenches

America's Uniformed Artists in World War I

Nonfiction, History, Military
Cover of the book Art from the Trenches by Alfred Emile Cornebise, Texas A&M University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Alfred Emile Cornebise ISBN: 9781623492038
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press Publication: October 1, 2014
Imprint: Texas A&M University Press Language: English
Author: Alfred Emile Cornebise
ISBN: 9781623492038
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Publication: October 1, 2014
Imprint: Texas A&M University Press
Language: English

Since ancient times, wars have inspired artists and their patrons to commemorate victories. When the United States finally entered World War I, American artists and illustrators were commissioned to paint and draw it. These artists’ commissions, however, were as captains for their patron: the U.S. Army. The eight men—William J. Aylward, Walter J. Duncan, Harvey T. Dunn, George M. Harding, Wallace Morgan, Ernest C. Peixotto, J. Andre Smith, and Harry E. Townsent—arrived in France early in 1918 with the American Expeditionary forces (AEF).

Alfred Emile Cornebise presents here the first comprehensive account of the U.S. Army art program in World War I. The AEF artists saw their role as one of preserving images of the entire aspect of American involvement in a way that photography could not.

Unsure of what to do with these official artists, AEF leadership in France issues passes that allowed them relative freedom to move about, sketching as they went and finding supplies and lodgings where they could. But the bureaucratic confusion over the artists’ mission soon created controversy in Washington. The army brass there was dismayed at the slow trickle of art coming in and at some of the bucolic, behind-the-lines scenes, which held little promise as dramatic magazine illustrations or propaganda.

The Armistice came only a matter of months after the American Artists arrived in France, and they marched into the Rhineland with the American occupation forces, sketching along the way. Soon returning to France the artists went into separate studios to finish their works, but the army hurriedly discharged them and they were civilian artists once more.

The author conducted research for this book in the World War I army records in the National Archives, as well as the collections of the Smithsonian Institution, and others throughout the country. The sixty-six black-and-white pictures reproduced here are some of the approximately five hundred pieces of official AEF combat art, which shortly after the war were turned over to the Smithsonian Institution, where most of them remain.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Since ancient times, wars have inspired artists and their patrons to commemorate victories. When the United States finally entered World War I, American artists and illustrators were commissioned to paint and draw it. These artists’ commissions, however, were as captains for their patron: the U.S. Army. The eight men—William J. Aylward, Walter J. Duncan, Harvey T. Dunn, George M. Harding, Wallace Morgan, Ernest C. Peixotto, J. Andre Smith, and Harry E. Townsent—arrived in France early in 1918 with the American Expeditionary forces (AEF).

Alfred Emile Cornebise presents here the first comprehensive account of the U.S. Army art program in World War I. The AEF artists saw their role as one of preserving images of the entire aspect of American involvement in a way that photography could not.

Unsure of what to do with these official artists, AEF leadership in France issues passes that allowed them relative freedom to move about, sketching as they went and finding supplies and lodgings where they could. But the bureaucratic confusion over the artists’ mission soon created controversy in Washington. The army brass there was dismayed at the slow trickle of art coming in and at some of the bucolic, behind-the-lines scenes, which held little promise as dramatic magazine illustrations or propaganda.

The Armistice came only a matter of months after the American Artists arrived in France, and they marched into the Rhineland with the American occupation forces, sketching along the way. Soon returning to France the artists went into separate studios to finish their works, but the army hurriedly discharged them and they were civilian artists once more.

The author conducted research for this book in the World War I army records in the National Archives, as well as the collections of the Smithsonian Institution, and others throughout the country. The sixty-six black-and-white pictures reproduced here are some of the approximately five hundred pieces of official AEF combat art, which shortly after the war were turned over to the Smithsonian Institution, where most of them remain.

More books from Texas A&M University Press

Cover of the book Our Fighting Governor by Alfred Emile Cornebise
Cover of the book Maritime Studies in the Wake of the Byzantine Shipwreck at Yassiada, Turkey by Alfred Emile Cornebise
Cover of the book The Texas Indians by Alfred Emile Cornebise
Cover of the book The Cy Young Catcher by Alfred Emile Cornebise
Cover of the book Changing Texas by Alfred Emile Cornebise
Cover of the book Cloyce Box, 6'4" and Bulletproof by Alfred Emile Cornebise
Cover of the book Attracting Birds in the Texas Hill Country by Alfred Emile Cornebise
Cover of the book Through Many Dangers, Toils and Snares by Alfred Emile Cornebise
Cover of the book Glorious Gulf of Mexico by Alfred Emile Cornebise
Cover of the book The Clinton Presidency and the Constitutional System by Alfred Emile Cornebise
Cover of the book Spirit by Alfred Emile Cornebise
Cover of the book From Tea Cakes to Tamales by Alfred Emile Cornebise
Cover of the book Why the Raven Calls the Canyon by Alfred Emile Cornebise
Cover of the book Still Turning by Alfred Emile Cornebise
Cover of the book Texas Women and Ranching by Alfred Emile Cornebise
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy