During World War I, the impact of the poster as a means of communication was greater than at any other time during history. The ability of posters to inspire, inform, and persuade combined with vibrant design trends in many of the participating countries to produce thousands of interesting visual works. As a valuable historical research resource, the posters provide multiple points of view for understanding this global conflict. As artistic works, the posters range in style from graphically vibrant works by well-known designers to anonymous broadsides (predominantly text).
For more information see part 1. For earlier examples see parts 1 - 4 also.
This is part 5 of a 9-part series on WW1 posters.
Notes on Charles Livingston Bull in Part 4.
Notes on James Montgomery Flagg in Part 1.
Clarence Frederick Underwood (1871-1929) born in Jamestown, New York and studied at the Art Students League and at the Academie Julian in Paris in 1896. He created images for the Saturday Evening Post and Ladies’ World magazines, among others, as well as for many literary works. He was a member of the Society of Illustrators in New York and was on the staff of the New York Press.
Notes on J. C. Leyendecker in Part 3.
Notes on Henry Reuterdahl in Part 3.
Notes on James Montgomery Flagg in Part 1.
L.N. Britton, American 1858–1934
For more information see part 1. For earlier examples see parts 1 - 4 also.
This is part 5 of a 9-part series on WW1 posters.
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| 1917 On Guard! It's a Pretty Big Job for One Bird! Join the Navy! by H.B. Matthews ( USA ) lithograph 64 x 47 cm |
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| 1917 On the Job for Victory ( USA ) colour lithograph 71 x 52 cm |
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| 1917 Our Greatest Mother JOIN! by Cornelius Hicks ( USA ) colour lithograph 76 x 51 cm |
Cornelius “Connie” Hicks (1899-1931) was an American painter and illustrator who died at the height of his career, only 32 years old. Educated at Pratt Art Institute in New York City, he later became an instructor there. He may be the best known for his illustration of the official Red Cross poster depicting a nurse in the foreground with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the background. Hicks also illustrated for Collier’s, Mentor, Liberty and Elks magazines.
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| 1917 U.S. Navy Over There by Albert Sterner ( USA ) colour lithograph 146 x 103 cm |
Albert Sterner (1863 London, UK – 1946) was an American illustrator and painter. Sterner was born in London. After a brief period in Germany, he eventually moved to the United States in 1879 to join his family who had previously moved to Chicago. He soon began doing lithography, painting, and illustrations. He opened a studio in New York in 1885 and began illustrating for magazines including Harper’s, Scribner’s, The Century and Colier’s. In 1888 he became a student at Académie Julian in Paris. In 1918, he returned to America and began teaching at the Art Students League in New York.
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| 1917 Polish Army in France by Wladyslaw Theodore Benda ( USA ) colour lithograph 90 x 68 cm Notes on Wladyslaw Benda in Part 4. |
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| 1917 Pour le Drapeau! Pour la Victoire! Souscrivez à l'Emprunt National by Georges Bertin Scott ( France ) colour lithograph 118 x 79 cm |
Georges Bertin Scott (1873–1943) was a French War Correspondent and illustrator for the French magazine L'Illustration during the early 20th century.
He is notable for his paintings of the Balkan Wars and the First World War, and also covered and illustrated scenes from the Spanish Civil War and the early Second World War. One of his major works, an oil painting of his depicting King Constantine I of Greece during the Balkan Wars hangs today in main entry hall of the Presidential Palace in Athens.
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| 1917 Pro Patria! Join Army for Period of War ( USA ) colour lithograph |
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| 1917 Remember Your First Thrill of American Liberty Your duty - Buy United States Government Bonds ( USA ) colour lithograph 76 x 51 cm |
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| 1917 Remember! The Flag of Liberty Support it! ( USA ) colour lithograph 76 x 52 cm |
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| 1917 Save Food and Defeat Frightfulness by Herbert Andrew Paus ( USA ) colour lithograph 91 x 142 cm |
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| 1917 Save the products of the Land by Charles Livingston Bull ( USA ) colour lithograph 76 x 52 cm |
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| 1917 SHARE Jewish Relief Campaign ( USA ) colour lithograph 103 x 76 cm |
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| 1917 So hilft dein Geld dir kämpfen! by Lucian Bernhard ( Germany ) colour lithograph 88 x 59 cm |
Lucian Bernhard ( 1883 – 1972) was a German graphic designer, type designer, interior designer, and artist during the first half of the twentieth century. He was born in Stuttgart in 1883 as Emil Kahn to a Jewish family, but changed his name to his more commonly known pseudonym in 1905. His first name is often spelled Lucien.
He was influential in helping create the design style known as Plakatstil (Poster Style), which used reductive imagery and flat colour as well as Sachplakat (Object Poster) which restricted the image to simply the object being advertised and the brand name. He was also known for his designs for Stiller shoes, Manoli cigarettes, and Priester matches.
Though he studied briefly at the Akademie in Munich, he was largely self-taught. He moved to Berlin in 1901 where he worked as a poster designer and art director for magazines. In 1920, he became a professor at the Akademie der Künste until 1923, when he emigrated to New York. In 1928, he opened the Contempora Studio with Rockwell Kent, Paul Poiret, Bruno Paul, and Erich Mendelsohn where he worked as a graphic artist and interior designer. After 1930, he worked primarily as a painter and sculptor until his death in 1972.
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| 1917 Take your Change in Thrift Stamps W.S.S. by "Kerr" ( USA ) colour lithograph 34 x 24 cm |
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| 1917 Teamwork Wins by Hibberd Van Buren Kline ( USA ) colour lithograph 105 x 66 cm |
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| 1917 The Camp Library is Yours Read to Win the War by Charles Buckles Fall ( USA ) colour lithograph 83 x 70 cm |
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| 1917 The Greatest Mother in the World by Alonzo Earl Foringer ( USA ) colour lithograph 117 x 76 cm |
Alonzo Earl Foringer (1878 –1948) was a painter best known for this WW1 Red Cross promotional poster. Born in Kaylor, Pennsylvania, Foringer spent the early part of his life in Armstrong County. He received artistic training from Horatio S. Stevenson in Pittsburgh, then from Henry Siddons Mowbray and Edwin Howland Blashfield in New York City. Later, he moved to Saddle River, New Jersey.
A perpetual bachelor, Foringer's household included his brother, T. Milton, and his sisters, Lilian, Ire, and Edith. The Foringer name was important in local politics between Alonzo's art career and Milton's 31-year career on the Saddle River borough council. He died December 8, 1948 in Saddle River, following an illness. His former home in Saddle River is now a historic landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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| 1917 The Minute Men of To-day are Going to Plattsburg ( USA ) colour lithograph 64 x 49 cm |
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| 1917 The Navy Needs You! Don't Read American History - Make It! by James Montgomery Flagg ( USA ) colour lithograph 102 x 70 cm |
Notes on James Montgomery Flagg in Part 1.
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| 1917 The Ships are Coming by James Daugherty ( USA ) colour lithograph 146 x 99 cm |
James Henry Daugherty (1889-1974 in) was an American Modernist painter, muralist, children's book author, and illustrator.He lived in Indiana, Ohio and at the age of nine moved to Washington, D.C. where he studied at the Corcoran School of Art. Later, he went to London and studied under Frank Brangwyn (also featured in these posts).
During WW1 he was commissioned to produce propaganda posters for various US Government agencies, including the United States Shipping Board. He wrote and illustrated several children's books during his career, winning the Newberry Medal and the Caldecott Honour Prize. Four huge murals by Daugherty, entitled The Spirit of Pageantry - Africa, The Spirit of Drama - Europe, The Spirit of Cinema - America, and The Spirit of Fantasy - Asia are located in the State Theatre (Cleveland, Ohio).
In September 2006, controversy erupted at Hamilton Avenue School, an elementary school in Greenwich, Connecticut, over Daugherty's depiction of Bunker Hill hero and Connecticut native Israel Putnam in a mural commissioned by Public Works of Art Project or the town hall, and installed in the school in 1935. The mural was restored, and revealed a scene, filled with violent and richly coloured imagery, including snarling animals, tomahawk-wielding American Indians, and a half-naked General Putnam strapped to a burning stake. School officials objected to the violent imagery, and ordered the mural removed to the Greenwich Public Library.
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| 1917 The Sword is Drawn The Navy Upholds It! by Kenyon Cox ( USA ) colour lithograph 103 x 68 cm |
Kenyon Cox (1856-1919) was born into a prominent mid-western family of theologians, lawyers, and politicians. Despite poor health and his mother’s concerns for his welfare, Cox took art courses, hoping one day to combine his artistic talent with his family’s commitment to social service. He studied in Paris from 1877 until 1882, when he moved to New York to work as an illustrator and art critic. Within ten years Cox was accepting mural commissions for such prestigious institutions as the Library of Congress and the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. These projects helped realize his hopes that art could serve an educational purpose.
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| 1917 They are Looking to Us for Help Are You One of Us? by L.N. Britton ( USA ) colour lithograph 88 x 138 cm |
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| 1917 Treat 'em Rough Join the Tanks by August William Hutaf ( USA ) colour lithograph 104 x 70 cm |
August "Gus" William Hutaf (1874-1942) was an illustrator, commercial artist, and advertising exectuive during the 1900s. His most recognised work is the 1917 recruiting poster shown here. Hutaf was an advertising executive and held positions at various companies as an art director.
In 1914, he resigned as art director of the United States Printing and Lithographing Company to become art director of the A.M. Briggs Company. In 1921 Hutaf was listed as the former vice president of Einson Litho, Inc., and former art director of the United States Lithograph Company of the William H. Rankin Company. He was also associated with the outdoor advertising company, Ivan B. Nordhem of New York. In 1908, two Leap Year postcard sets designed by Hutaf were released by Paul C. Koeber and Illustrated Postcard Co.
In 1916, Hutaf was awarded $1,000 by the Poster Advertising Association for the best poster to advertise poster advertising. His design featured a waterfall with gold and purple mountains in the background. A rainbow and "Niagara-green" silhouette is in the foreground. Its purpose was to symbolise the "beauty, power, and impressiveness' of poster advertising. He served as the chairman of the poster committee in the First Annual Exhibition of Advertising Paintings and Drawings of the Art Directors Club.
Throughout his career, Hutaf created artwork for postcards, theatre programs, sheet music, book illustrations, and national advertisements.The subjects for most of his art was children, as evidenced in his series of postcards, "Candy Kids,""Little Hayseeds," and "Blacktown Babies." Hutaf, inspired by his nephew playing in the snow, designed the Jack Frost Sugar logo.Beyond illustrations and paintings, he also designed mission pottery that captured the colours and scenery of California. He also painted a mural at the 1939 New York World's Fair.
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| 1917 U.S. Marine Be a Sea Soldier by Clarence F. Underwood ( USA ) colour lithograph 100 x 70 cm |
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| 1917 U.S. Marines Service on Land and Sea by Sidney H Riesenberg ( USA ) colour lithograph 102 x 76 cm |
Sidney H. Riesenberg (1885 – 1971) Riesenberg was born in 1885 in Chicago and educated at the Chicago School of Art. An illustrator and painter; he lived in Yonkers, NY, and commuted to his studio in New York City by train. He is known, as a professional illustrator, for his posters for the U.S. Marine Corps and the Liberty Bond programmes, for his illustrations for book covers, magazines, and for oil paintings of diverse subjects. He retired from his professional work and dedicated his full-time energy to painting fine arts and teaching. He began, in 1937, spending summers in Rockport, MA, where he painted scenes of the small fishing town. He was active in the Rockport Art Association, teaching oil painting and participating in watercolour figure painting classes. Riensenberg died in 1971 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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| Over the Top For You by Sidney H Riesenberg ( USA ) colour lithograph |
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| 1917 U.S. Marines by Joseph Christian Leyendecker ( USA ) colour lithograph 66 x 45 cm |
Notes on J. C. Leyendecker in Part 3.
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| 1917 U.S. Navy Help Your Country! Enlist in the Navy by Henry Reuterdahl ( USA ) colour lithograph 104 x 70 cm |
Notes on Henry Reuterdahl in Part 3.
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| 1917 Und Ihr? Zeichnet 7. Kriegsanleihe by Alfred Roller ( Austria ) colour lithograph 95 x 63 cm |
Alfred Roller (1864 –1935) was an Austrian painter, graphic designer and set designer. Roller was born in Brünn (Brno), Moravia. He at first studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. In 1897 he co-founded the Vienna Secession with Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Josef Hoffman, and other artists who rejected the prevalent academic style of art. He became a professor of drawing at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna in 1899, and President of the Secession in 1902.
In his early career Roller was very active as a graphic designer and draughtsman. He designed numerous covers and vignettes for the pages the Secessionist periodical Ver Sacrum, as well as the posters for the fourth, fourteenth, and sixteenth Secession exhibitions (see below).
In 1902 Roller was introduced to the composer Gustav Mahler by Carl Moll. Roller expressed an interest in stage design and showed Mahler several sketches he had made for Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. Mahler was impressed and decided to employ Roller to design the sets for a new production of the piece. The production, which premiered in February 1903, was a great critical success. Roller continued to design sets for Mahler's productions. Eventually Roller left the Secession and his teaching post at the Kunstgewerbeschule to be appointed chief stage designer to the Vienna State Opera, a position he held until 1909. He died in Vienna in 1935.
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| Alfred Roller poster for the 14th exhibition of the Viennese Secession |
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| 1917 Uphold the Tradition of Indiana by J.D. Ross ( USA ) colour lithograph 70 x 52 cm |
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| 1917 USA Bonds by Joseph Christian Leyendecker ( USA ) colour lithograph 76 x 51 cm |
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| 1917 Vaterlandsspende, zur Errichtung Deutscher Kriegsbeschädigten Erholungsheime E.V. by Louis Oppenheim ( Germany ) colour lithograph 70 x 47 cm |
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| 1917 Verdun, Road to Y.M.C.A. Canteen ( USA ) colour lithograph 102 x 75 cm |
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| 1917 Victory is a Question of Stamina by Harvey Dunn ( USA ) colour lithograph 73 x 54 cm |
Harvey Dunn(1884-1952) was a prodigy of legendary artist Howard Pyle, and an admired teacher in his own right. Born on a homestead near Manchester, South Dakota, he left the farm to study at the South Dakota Agricultural College and the Art Institute of Chicago before becoming one of Pyle’s most accomplished students - along with N.C. Wyeth and Frank E. Schoonover - and eventually opened his own studios in Wilmington, Delaware, and in Leonia and Tenafly, New Jersey. Of his mentor, Dunn said, “Pyle’s main purpose was to quicken our souls so that we might render service to the majesty of simple things.”
In 1906, Dunn obtained his first advertising commission from the Keuffel and Esser Company of New York, and throughout his prodigious career, he created painterly illustrations for the most prominent periodicals of his day, including Scribner’s, Harper’s, Collier’s Weekly, Century, Outing, and The Saturday Evening Post. During World War I, Dunn was one of eight war artists assigned to the American Expeditionary Forces in France.
In 1914 Dunn moved from Wilmington to Leonia, New Jersey, which provided close access to his publishers in New York City. The following year, he founded the Leonia School of Illustration with artist Charles S. Chapman.Though Dunn and Chapman ultimately parted ways and closed their Leonia school, Dunn’s desire to share his artistic knowledge with the next generation never waned. He went on to teach at the Grand Central School of Art, Pratt Institute, and the Art Students League, inspiring many of the 20th century’s most influential visual communicators.
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| 1917 Vous Aussi Faites Votre Devoir: - by B. Chavannaz ( France ) colour lithograph 119 x 79 cm |
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| 1917 Wake up America! Civilization Calls Every Man, Woman and Child! by James Montgomery Flagg ( USA ) colour lithograph 103.8 x 69.8 cm |
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| 1917 Warning! Consider the Possible Consequences If You are Careless in your Work by L.N. Britton ( USA ) colour lithograph 104 x 72 cm |
L.N. Britton, American 1858–1934
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| 1917 Weichnachts Sammlung des Bayerischen Roten Kreuzes für die Feldgrauen by Walter Püttner ( Germany ) colour lithograph 89 x 56 cm |
Walter Püttner (1872 Leipzig, Germany – 1953 Bad Aibling, Germany)
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| 1917 When you Fire Remember This Enlist in the Navy by William Allen Rogers ( USA ) colour lithograph 57 x 42 cm |
William Allen Rogers (1854–1931) was an American political cartoonist born Springfield, Ohio. He studied at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Wittenberg Coollege, but never graduated. Rogers taught himself to drawand began submitting political cartoons to Midwestern newspapers in his teens. At the age of fourteen, his first cartoons appeared in a Dayton, Ohio newspaper, to which Rogers' mother had earlier submitted a selection of his sketches.
The start of Rogers' career as an illustrator came in 1873 when he was hired by the Daily Graphic in New York. Rogers' job at the Daily Graphic was to help out with the news sketches and at times to draw cartoons.
In 1877, he was hired by Harper’s Weekly to draw the magazine's political cartoons after the departure of Thomas Nast. The cartoons were dramatic adjuncts that illustrated the magazine's editorials. Walt Reed, author of The Illustrator in America: 1860-2000, writes that while Rogers cartoons "never quite approached Nast's in power, his ideas were strongly presented and his drawings somewhat more skillful." Rogers remained at Harper's Weekly for twenty-five years.
After leaving Harper's Weekly, Rogers was hired by the New York Herald, where he drew cartoons daily for a total of twenty years. He occasionally worked for Life magazine too, and submitted cartoons and illustrations for Puck, The Century Magazine, and St. Nicholas Magazine. Rogers retired as a cartoonist in 1926 while working for the Washington Post. He died in Washington, DC in 1931.
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| 1917 Will you Help? The Red Cross Counts on You ( USA ) colour lithograph 102 x 71 cm |
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| 1917 Woman Your Country Needs You! ( USA ) colour lithograph 117 x 76 cm |
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| 1917 Your Chums are Fighting Why Aren't You? ( Canada ) colour lithograph 97 x 63 cm |