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 - 6 also.
This is part 7 of a 9-part series on WW1 posters.
Notes on John E. Sheridan in Part 6.
Notes on Henry Patrick Raleigh in Part 3.
Notes on James Montgomery Flagg in Part 1.
As a mark of his rise to the top ranks of illustrators who portrayed women, the term “Fisher Girl” was used to describe his paintings in parallel with the “Gibson Girls” of the past and the contemporary “Fadeaway Girls” of Coles Phillips. (See illustration by Fisher below) Cosmopolitan magazine made an exclusive contract with Fisher that resulted in over 300 covers. Although Fisher spent much of his life surrounded by beautiful and amiable women, he claimed to be too busy to marry and remained a bachelor until his death in 1934.
Notes on Edward Penfield in Part 6.
Walter Ditz (Austrian, 1888-1925)
Notes on Joseph Christian Leyendecker in Part 3.
Notes on James Montgomery Flagg in Part 1.
For more information see part 1. For earlier examples see parts 1 - 6 also.
This is part 7 of a 9-part series on WW1 posters.
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| 1918 don't let up Keep On Saving Food by Francis Luis Mora ( USA ) colour lithograph 54 x 35 cm |
Francis Luis Mora (1874-1940), was a Uruguayan-born American figurative painter. Mora worked in watercolour, oils and tempera. He produced drawings in pen and ink, and graphite; and etchings and monotypes. He is known for his paintings and drawings depicting American life in the early 20th century; Spanish life and society; historical and allegorical subjects; with murals, easel painting and illustrations. He also was a popular art instructor. In 1904 Mora was voted an Associate member of the National Academy of Design, and was elected a full member in 1906.
Mora taught illustration and life classes at both William Merritt Chase’s Chase School of Art (renamed the New York School of Art in 1898, later to become Parsons) and the Art Students League. Among his students was Georgia O’Keefe, who studied with him between 1907 and 1908. In addition to his success as an easel painter and illustrator, Mora became a well-known muralist.
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| 1918 Donnez tous à l'Oeuvre du Souvenir de la France à ses Marins by Jacques Roger Simon ( France ) colour lithograph 140 x 99 cm |
Jacques Roger Simon (1875 Paris – 1945 Jullouville) Painter, largely of landscpaes; and printmaker, well known for his etchings.
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| 1918 Pour le suprême Effort Emprunt National Société Générale by Marcel Falter ( France ) colour lithograph 120 x 79 cm |
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| 1918 Es gilt die letzen Schläge, den Sieg zu vollenden! Zeichnet Kriegsanleihe! by Gerd Paul ( Germany ) colour lithograph 86 x 58 cm |
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| 1918 Every Girl Pulling for Victory Victory Girls United War Work Campaign by Edward Penfield ( USA ) colour lithograph 70 x 56 cm |
Edward Penfield (1866 Brooklyn, New York – 1925) was a leading American Illustrator in the era known as the "Golden Age of American Illustration" and he is considered the father of the American poster. His work has been included in almost every major book on American Illustration or the history of the poster. He is also a major figure in the evolution of graphic design.
Penfield lived in New Rochelle, New York, a popular art colony among actors, writers and artists of the period. The community was most well known for its unprecedented number of prominent American illustrators. He was one of the founding members of the New Rochelle Art Association in 1912.
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| 1918 Feed a Fighter by Wallace Morgan ( USA ) colour lithograph 74 x 53 cm |
Wallace Morgan (1875-1948)Morgan was born in 1875 and he grew up in Albany, New York. He studied at the National Academy of Design while working at the New York Sun as a part-time artist. In 1898 he joined the staff of the New York Herald and became a full-time newspaper artist covering whatever assignments came his way, including a 1902 trip to Martinique to cover the eruptions of Mt. Pele. During this period he developed the ability to render a faithful picture of nature with little need for preliminary sketches, an essential skill for a newspaper illustrator who had to convey to readers the image of an event quickly and accurately.
After eleven years with the Herald he opened his own studio. Shortly thereafter Collier's commissioned him and Julian Bond to tour the United States and report their findings in words and pictures. Two trips across the country each produced a book that presented a light view of life in America. World War I and Morgan's selection as an AEF artist brought an early end to a third trip. Morgan put his ability to sketch quickly to good use during the war. His work projects an air of activity and movement into scenes of combat. A number of his pictures also reflect his apparent interest in the many columns of troops, animals, and equipment that moved ceaselessly across the battlefields of France. After the war Morgan returned to work in his studio in New York City.
Morgan was president of the Society of Illustrators from 1929 to 1936. In 1945 he made a comic strip adaptation of Margery Sharp’s novel “Cluny Brown.” Wallace Morgan died in 1948.
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| 1918 Find the Range of Your Patriotism by Enlisting in the Navy by Vojtëch Preissig ( USA ) colour lithograph 89 x 64 cm Notes on Vojtëch Preissig in Part 3. |
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| 1918 Food for France by F. Luis Mura colour lithograph 76 x 51 cm |
Francis Luis Mora (1874-1940), known as Luis Mora, was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1874. His father, Domingo Mora (1840- 1911), was a Spanish architectural sculptor. His mother, Laura Gaillard, had two sisters who married into the extended Bacardi rum family of Santiago de Cuba.
In 1880, Domingo Mora accepted a position as Director of Design for the Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Company in New Jersey. Francis was raised in Perth Amboy, receiving his first art instruction from his father. He entered the Boston Museum School of Fine Art in 1889 when he was fifteen years old. His teachers were Frank Benson and Edmund Tarbell. In 1893 he returned to New York to work as an illustrator and to study composition with H. Siddons Mowbray at the Art Students League. In 1900 he married Sophia Brown Compton, daughter of the mayor of Perth Amboy, NJ. The couple lived in New York City.
Mora's life-long artistic goal was to adapt the techniques of the Spanish Old Masters into American modern painting. Mora frequently travelled to Spain to visit his extended family, and to paint. He also copied masterpieces by Diego Velázquez in the El Museo del Prado in Madrid. His patrons for Spanish scenes were Alfred Stieglitz and William Macbeth. He had a solo show of Spanish paintings in 1910 at the New York Watercolour Club.
In 1904, Mora was elected an Associate at the National Academy of Design and became a full member in 1906. He was the first Hispanic to be elected to the NAD, and he became an exhibition jury member in 1907. Mora was also a member of The National Arts Club, The Art Students League, The Salmagundi Club, The Pen and Brush Club, The Architectural League, The American Watercolor Society, and many other art societies. Mora won three medals at National Academy competitions, and he also won medals at the St. Louis World's Fair Exhibition in 1904 and at the Panama-American Exhibition in San Francisco in 1915.
In 1880, Domingo Mora accepted a position as Director of Design for the Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Company in New Jersey. Francis was raised in Perth Amboy, receiving his first art instruction from his father. He entered the Boston Museum School of Fine Art in 1889 when he was fifteen years old. His teachers were Frank Benson and Edmund Tarbell. In 1893 he returned to New York to work as an illustrator and to study composition with H. Siddons Mowbray at the Art Students League. In 1900 he married Sophia Brown Compton, daughter of the mayor of Perth Amboy, NJ. The couple lived in New York City.
Mora's life-long artistic goal was to adapt the techniques of the Spanish Old Masters into American modern painting. Mora frequently travelled to Spain to visit his extended family, and to paint. He also copied masterpieces by Diego Velázquez in the El Museo del Prado in Madrid. His patrons for Spanish scenes were Alfred Stieglitz and William Macbeth. He had a solo show of Spanish paintings in 1910 at the New York Watercolour Club.
In 1904, Mora was elected an Associate at the National Academy of Design and became a full member in 1906. He was the first Hispanic to be elected to the NAD, and he became an exhibition jury member in 1907. Mora was also a member of The National Arts Club, The Art Students League, The Salmagundi Club, The Pen and Brush Club, The Architectural League, The American Watercolor Society, and many other art societies. Mora won three medals at National Academy competitions, and he also won medals at the St. Louis World's Fair Exhibition in 1904 and at the Panama-American Exhibition in San Francisco in 1915.
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| 1918 For Every Fighter A Woman Worker Y.W.C.A. by Ernest Hamlin Baker ( USA ) colour lithograph 105.2 x 70.7 cm |
Ernest Hamlin Baker (1889-1975)was an American artist and illustrator from Poughkeepsie, New York. He graduated from Colgate University. He illustrated posters for the American Legion and illustrated more than 300 covers for Time Magazine, including a famous cover of Howard Hughes, in 1948 (see below).
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| 1948 Cover by Ernest Hamlin Baker |
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| 1918 For Home and Country Victory Liberty Loan by Alfred Everitt Orr ( USA ) colour lithograph 76 x 51 cm |
Alfred Herbert Palmer, British (1853-1932) Known to have active in San Gabriel, California 1919-1925, then settled in John Singer Sargent’s old studio in London.
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| 1918 For the Safety of Womanhood ... Help 'Till Ut Hurts ( USA ) colour lithograph 51 x 33 cm |
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| 1918 For Your Boy United War Work Campaign by Arthur William Brown ( USA ) colour lithograph |
Arthur William Brown (1881–1966) was a Canadian commercial artist, most known for his work as an illustrator for the Saturday Evening Post, American Magazine, and Redbook.In the 1890s, he attended the Hamilton Art School and studied under John Gordon. At the age of 16, he was hired as a chalk plate artist for the Hamilton Spectator. He later left Hamilton and attended the Art Students League in New York City, and studied under Walter Appleton Clark, F.W. DuMond, and F.R. Gruger. He was later hired as an illustrator by the Saturday Evening Post, where his works were featured prominently.
Brown's works included illustrated stories of American authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Irvin Cobb, and Sinclair Lewis. He illustrated posters for the World War I war effort as well as book cover illustrations. In 1964, Brown earned the unofficial title of Dean of American Illustrators and was inducted into the Illustrator's Hall of Fame by the American Society of Illustrators.
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| 1918 Free Milk for France by Francis Luis Mora ( USA ) colour lithograph 83 x 57 cm |
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| 1918 George Washington "The Spirit Still Lives" ( USA ) colour lithograph 81 x 54 cm |
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| 1918 Have You a Red Cross Service Flag? 1918 by Jessie Willcox Smith ( USA ) |
Jessie Willcox Smith (1863-1935) was an American female illustrator during the Golden Age of American Illustration. She was considered "one of the greatest pure illustrators.” She was a contributor to books and magazines during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Smith illustrated stories and articles for clients such as Century, Collier’s, Leslie’s Weekly, Harper’s, McClure’s. Scribners, and the Ladies Home Journal. She had an ongoing relationship with Good Housekeeping magazine, which included the long-running Mother Goose series of illustrations, and also the creation of all of the Good Housekeeping covers from December 1917 to 1933.
Among the more than 60 books that Smith illustrated were Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” and “An Old-Fashioned Girl,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Evangeline,” and Robert Louis Stevenson’s “A Child’s Garden of Verses.”
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| 1918 Have You Bought Your Liberty Bond by Vojtëch Preissig ( USA ) colour lithograph 96 x 64 cm |
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| 1918 Hello! This is Liberty Speaking - Billions of Dollars are Needed and Needed Now by Z.P. Nikolaki ( USA ) colour lithograph 31 x 23 cm |
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| 1918 Help Deliver the Goods Do It Now by Herbert Andrew Paus ( USA ) colour lithograph |
Herbert Andrew Paus ( 1880–1946 ) was a native of Minneapolis and got his first job as a cartoonist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Ambitious to become an illustrator, he enrolled in the Fine Arts School there, and later found employment in a Chicago art studio.
Eventually he moved to New York where he became a freelance illustrator. Paus had a strong sense of design, which was ideally suited to posters. He was a member of the Government committee on pictorial publicity during World War I, and painted effective posters to support the war effort.
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| 1918 Help to catch Huns Victory Bonds Shorten the War ( Canada ) colour lithograph 36 x 53 cm |
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| 1918 Hey Fellows! Your Money Brings Books We Need When We Want It by John E. Sheridan ( USA ) colour lithograph 76 x 51 cm |
Notes on John E. Sheridan in Part 6.
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| 1918 Hip-Hip! Another Ship - Another Victory by George Hand Wright ( USA ) colour lithograph 152 x 102 cm |
George Hand Wright was born in Philadelphia, PA, the son of a blacksmith, he attended the Spring Garden Institute, a local technical school, and was apprenticed to a lithographer. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Robert Vonnoh, where his classmates included Robert Henri, John Sloan and William Glackens, famous members of the New York “Ashcan School” of artists.
He moved to New York City, and his first illustration appeared in Scribner's Magazine, in 1893. He illustrated a number of books, and his work soon appeared regularly in magazines such as Scribner's, Harper's, Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post, and others.
He married in 1907 and settled in Westport, Connecticut. He became one of the founders of its artistic community.In mid-career, he turned from commercial illustration to watercolours, pastels and etchings.
He exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Brooklyn Society of Etchers, the Society of American Etchers, and a number of New York galleries. He was a member of the Society of American Etchers, the Society of Illustrators, the Salmagundi Club and the Westport Artists. In 1939, he was elected to the National Academy of Design. Wright died in Westport in 1951.
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| 1918 Hun or Home? Buy More Liberty Bonds by Henry Patrick Raleigh ( USA ) colour lithograph 75 x 51 cm |
Notes on Henry Patrick Raleigh in Part 3.
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| 1918 I am telling you by James Montgomery Flagg ( USA ) colour lithograph |
Notes on James Montgomery Flagg in Part 1.
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| 1918 I summon you to Comradeship in the Red Cross by Harrison Fisher ( USA ) colour lithograph 102 x 76 cm |
Harrison Fisher spent his sickly childhood in Lameda, California. Since his father and grandfather were both artists, Fisher’s formal art education began early. After studying with Amadée Joullin and then at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art in San Francisco, he worked as an illustrator for the “San Francisco Call” and the “Examiner”, a leading publication owned by William Randolph Hearst.
Fisher left California for New York City in 1898 to work at Hearst’s “New York American. Shortly after arriving in New York, Fisher joined the staff of humour magazine Puck after he sold two drawings to the publication. So began Fisher’s meteoric rise to illustration fame. His position at Puck put him in the way of art directors for a slew of major publications who flooded him with requests for illustrations. Fisher’s work appeared on covers, interior stories, and in advertisements for products marketed to women in The Saturday Evening Post, The Associated Sunday Magazine, Life, Collier’s Weekly, The Ladies’ Home Journal, Puck, and Cosmopolitan.
Harrison Fisher is known for the beautiful women he painted, who were overwhelmingly rosy-cheeked, long-limbed, alone, and elegant. The vast and lavishly decorated hats that adorned their heads also became a signature aspect of his design. He joined a legion of other notable illustrators who specialised in the portrayal of glamorous American women, such as Coles Phillips and Charles Dana Gibson.
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| Magazine illustration by Harrison Fisher |
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| 1918 If ye break faith - we shall not sleep Buy Victory Bonds by Frank Lucien Nicolet ( Canada ) colour lithograph 94.1 x 56.5 cm |
Frank Lucien Nicolet, Canadian (1889-1944)
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| 1918 Join the United-States School Garden Army Enlist Now by Edward Penfield ( USA ) colour lithograph 86 x 60 cm |
Notes on Edward Penfield in Part 6.
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| 1918 Keep All Canadians Busy Buy 1918 Victory Bonds ( Canada ) colour lithograph 60 x 45 cm |
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| 1918 Keep Him Smiling! United War-Work Campaign Nov. 11th to 18th. ( USA ) photomechanical poster |
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| 1918 Kolonial-Krieger-Spende. von Lettow-Vorbeck by Fritz Grotemeyer ( Germany ) colour lithograph 69 x 47 cm |
Fritz Grotemeyer (1864-1947) born in Münster, Germany was a painter, illustrator and draughtsman. Grotemeyer started his career first as apprentice in the local department store, till he decided in 1886 to become a painter, making his hobby into his profession. In 1914 he was an official war artist, who travelled to the front many times. In 1916 Grotemeyer travelled as war artist on the invitation of the Turkish government (official ally of Germany) through the middle east (Damascus, Palestina, Sinai, Egypt).
His career got a big boost after the success of his painting in the Münster Town Hall and his portraits for the Bismarck family. His career as a history painter was over however by November 1918, as the genre died out after the Great War. As he missed out on getting a professorship at his own academy, he made his living through painting portraits till his death. Although he was no Nazi, he made a great sum of money with his portrait of Hitler and endless copies of this for public venues like the Reichs Kanzlei in Berlin, numerous embassies and city halls all over Germany.
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| 1918 Kriegsanleihe Helft den Hütern eures Glückes by Walter Georgi ( Germany ) colour lithograph 144 x 95 cm |
Walter Georgi (1871-1924) was born in 1871, in Leipzig, Germany. Following his studies at the Leipzig Art Academy, Walter also visited the art academies in Dresden and Munich during the 1890's. In 1896 Georgi worked as an illustrator for the 'Simplicissimus' and the 'Jugend.' In 1899, he became one of the founding members of the Munich artist association 'Scholle.' He was also a member of the Werkbund in 1912. While active as an illustrator from 1914, he designed a range of field-postcards for the bakery in Bahlsen. Walter was a professor at the Art Academy of Karlsruhe from 1908 through 1919. Walter Georgi died in Germany, in 1924.
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| 1918 Lend the way they Fight Buy Bonds to your Utmost by Edmund M. Ashe ( USA ) colour lithograph 93 x 53 cm |
Edmund Marion Ashe (1867-1941) was an American artist. He was most known for his varying styles of art, which included faithful representations of factories, posters of WW1 bond drives, and watercolours of the Gibson Girl.Ashe studied at the Metropolitan Art School and the Art Students League. He began his career as an illustrator for magazines, including Collier’s, Harper’s Magazine, and Scribner’s Magazine.
From 1896 to 1909, Ashe was the White House artist-correspondent for Lelie’s Weekly, New-York Tribune, and New York World during President William McKinley’s and President Theodore Roosevelt’s years in office.
He was also was a founding member of the Silvermine Artists Guild in Norwalk, Connecticut.In 1901, Ashe joined the Society of Illustrators, making him one of the organisation's first members. During his time as White House artist-correspondent in Washington, DC, he also taught at the Art Students League and William Merritt Cahse’s New York Art School. In 1920, he moved to Pittsburgh, PA. Ashe was hired as an Associate Professor of Painting at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. Eventually, he became the Head of the Department of Painting and Design.
Many of Ashe's paintings depicted the life of the working-man in manufacturing and labour.Often the subject matter centred on industry jobs like steel making, glass blowing, and oil drilling.
In 1913, Ashe's work was exhibited at the Armory Show in New York City. His work was also show at the Ferargil Galleries in 1929 and the Carnegie Institute in 1931. Ashe retired in 1939. He moved to Charleston, South Carolina, but returned to Westport, Connecticut a few years later. He died in 1941.
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| 1918 Marine-Schauspiel in der Kriegsausstellung by Franz Griessler ( Austria ) colour lithograph 95 x 63 cm |
Franz Anton Griessler (1897-1974) Austrian artist.
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| 1918 Men Wanted over 31 years of Age for American Red Cross Foreign Service ( USA ) chromolithograph 101 x 69 cm |
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| 1918 Must Children Die and Mothers Plead in Vain? Buy More Liberty Bonds by Walter H. Everett ( USA ) colour lithograph 102 x 75 cm |
Walter H. Everett (1880-1946) was one of the most popular and well-regarded American illustrators of the early twentieth-century, a period known as the Golden Age of Illustration; yet his legacy all but departed from history. A student of the Howard Pyle, famed for his works illustrating Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island,” a peer to N.C. Wyeth, and a mentor to Norman Rockwell, Walter’s style was born from the famed Brandywine School, named after a colony of artists working in the Brandywine Valley, Pennsylvania.
From the late 1900s-1930s, he gained national acclaim for works frequently found in magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, McCall’s, and Colliers.
Everett however suffered from a couple of character flaws. One was his inability to meet deadlines, a trait that impeded his career. The other was his disregard for own work – in later life he destroyed a large body of his works that he considered lesser pieces, though a number of fine artworks have survived.
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| 1918 Nothing Stops these Men Let Nothing Stop You by Howard Giles ( USA ) colour lithograph 100 x 137 cm |
Howard Giles (1876-1955) Born in Brooklyn, New York, he studied at the Art Students' League and with Jay Hambidge, whose theory of "dynamic symmetry" influenced Giles' work. In 1912 he began teaching at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, and later was appointed Dean of the Art Department at the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York, retiring as Dean Emeritus. Giles is represented in the permanent collections of major museums and in private collections. Known as a painter, illustrator and printmaker.
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| 1918 Nous Saurons Nous en Priver by Camille Boutet ( France ) colour lithograph 55 x 36 cm |
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| 1918 Oh, Boy! That's the Girl! The Salvation Army Lassie Keep Her on the Job by George M. Richards ( USA ) colour lithograph 102 x 76 cm |
George Mather Richards (1880-1958) was an illusrator and painter in the 1900s. Throughout his career, he illustrated many textbooks and children's books. Richards was born in 1880 in Darien, Connecticut. His art education began at the Corcoran Art School in Washington, DC, graduating in 1904. He then studied at The Chase School in New York City. Richards studied under Robert Henri, Edward Penfield, and D.J. Connah. He also met his future wife, Gertrude Lundborg of Kansas, at the art school.
Richards was the art director of Everybody’s Magazine in New York. He left the position in 1914. Afterwards, he worked as a freelance illustrator. Much of his work was done for MacMillan & Co. Throughout this period, he illustrated historical textbooks, children's books, books of poetry, and posters.
Richards exhibited his work for the MacDowell Club Exhibitions in 1917.In June 1919, Richards and Lundborg exhibited their artwork at the Paint Box Gallery. Richards' paintings, "Flame" and "Rain" were showcased at the Independent Artists show.
Richards exhibited his work for the MacDowell Club Exhibitions in 1917.In June 1919, Richards and Lundborg exhibited their artwork at the Paint Box Gallery. Richards' paintings, "Flame" and "Rain" were showcased at the Independent Artists show. As of 1919, Richards and Gertrude Lundborg were living at 112 West 11th Street in New York City. Richards retired in Winter Park, Florida and died in 1958.
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| 1918 Opfertag by Walter Ditz ( Germany ) colour lithograph 55 x 40 cm |
Walter Ditz (Austrian, 1888-1925)
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| 1918 Order Coal Now by Joseph Christian Leyendecker ( USA ) colour lithograph |
Notes on Joseph Christian Leyendecker in Part 3.
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| 1918 Our Regular Divisions Honored and Respected by All by James Montgomery Flagg ( USA ) colour lithograph 70 x 52 cm |